A Multidimensional Analysis of L2 Written Complexity: The Case of Sojourners

Abstract

This study investigated the developmental trajectories and the changing nature of the relationship between holistic proficiency, syntactic and lexical complexity in written L2 English. The data analyzed come from the diary subcorpus of the Study Abroad and Language Acquisition Project (Pérez-Vidal, 2014). The Catalan/Spanish bilingual sojourner-participants (n = 26) who were advanced L2 learners of English produced a weekly diary entry (n = 383) about their sojourn experiences in terms of language use and development, culture, and their daily life in the host country. Drawing on a dynamic systems perspective, the diary entries were analyzed through visual inspection, correlations, and finally lagged cross correlation (LCCA) to confirm any supportive, competitive, and precursor relationships. The results of the analysis confirmed much variation and a dynamic pattern for the indices investigated. There was a competitive relationship between most syntactic and lexical measures, except for lexical sophistication. The LCCAs confirmed these patterns but also indicated a precursor relationship between some indices at certain times during sojourn, such as lower holistic proficiency scores during first weeks predicting higher amounts of subordination in mid-sojourn. The study concludes that the participants paid attention to different dimensions of their written performance at different times during their studies abroad