Written complexity developmental stages of Turkish EFL learners in argumentative writing
Author(s)
Advisor
Peker, HilalDate
2019-07Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
This study aimed (a) to identify written grammatical complexity (i.e., syntactic
complexity) stage(s) and grammatical functions of undergraduate Turkish EFL
students based on Biber et al.’s (2011) framework for grammatical complexity
developmental stages, and (b) to investigate the effect of topic on students’
grammatical complexities and functions. The data were collected from 60
argumentative essays on three different topics written by second-year students
studying at a foundation university in Turkey. The data were qualitatively coded
through Ellis’ (2008) form analysis, in which all the instances of complex forms
were identified and designated to the appropriate stages and grammatical functions
(adverbial, complement, and noun modifier). Frequencies of complex forms and
functions were calculated for the whole group and for each topic separately. Kruskal-
Wallis test was conducted to see the topic effect on students’ grammatical
complexity stages and grammatical functions.
The results of the study pointed out that the majority of grammatical complexity
features of L2 learners were in Stage 2 and Stage 3. The findings also showed that
topic affected grammatical complexities in Stage 2, Stage 4, and Stage 5. Regarding
the grammatical functions, topic affected the use of noun modifiers, but not
adverbials and complements.
Based on the findings, this study is in line with previous studies: L2 learners’ texts
demonstrate basic level phrasal modification and reflect features of conversation
more than features of academic writing. To promote complexity features of academic
writing, L2 writing instruction should align with current findings regarding register
differences.
Keywords
Syntactic complexityGrammatical complexity
Phrasal complexity
L2 academic writing
Register differences