The Differences Of Accuracy, Complexity, And Fluency In The Oral And Written Production Of FD/FI Students

Individual differences became an important aspect in the study of second language acquisition. Cognitive styles such as field-dependence and field-independence and their influences have been much explored in SLA in recent years. Accuracy, fluency and complexity are three dimensions to measure L2 performance. More and more researchers now agree on that language is not fixed but is a dynamic system. Language is used for social action within a context of language use, where pressures, learners'identities, goals and affective states will have a profound effect on language performance. The present study adopts a dynamic descriptive approach to carry out a case study, with the combination of analyses in group average and individual variations to investigate the fluency, accuracy and complexity in the written and oral productions of FD/FI students of English.In this study, there are three research questions addressed:(1)What are the developmental patterns of fluency, accuracy and complexity in FD/FI students'outputs and whether FD/FI students'English learning is linearity?(2)What are the correlations among fluency, accuracy and complexity? Whether development in one dimension can cause stop or regression in another dimension?(3) Is it true that FD students do better in written work and FI students in oral work if they are at the same level of English proficiency?The major findings of this study are presented as follows:Firstly, language is a dynamic system instead of a static and fixed one. The patterns of fluency, accuracy and complexity emerging in both FD students and FI students are not linear.Secondly, the three dimensions to language proficiency, i.e. fluency, accuracy and complexity, perform independently in written and oral productions. They are supportive and competitive. The development in one dimension can cause another's stop.Thirdly, both FD and FI students show variability in their own progress as the result of their adaptations to changing contexts. Students will be influenced by their use of language resources in the process of language performances.Fourthly, not only FD and FI students follow different patterns in their language progress, but also members in a same group differ greatly between one and another in their productions.Finally, roughly speaking, FI students do better in written work and FD students in oral work when they are at the same level of English proficiency. But when it comes to process, both styles have their own advantages in English learning and using. More attention should be paid in the future English teaching.The implications of the present study lie in the following aspects:Firstly, the developmental patterns of FD and FI students'English production are not linear; there should be more formative assessments used in the process of learning and teaching. Teachers should pay attention to individual progresses at different stages of learning and help the students enhance their underlying knowledge.Secondly, FD and FI students really take different developmental patterns in their second language learning. Teachers should know students'cognitive styles and help students develop reasonable learning strategies and effective task-based activities.Thirdly, language is also a social resource. The teachers should have an eye on students'classroom behavior, emotions, attitudes and other contextual influences, and foster their interest in English learning.At last, individual differences in FD and FI students should be emphasized once again. Teachers should create more different types of task-based activities to help students of different styles. Students'cognitive styles should be taken into account when the teachers plan their teaching syllabus, from which both FD and FI students will benefit.However, the present study has its own limitations. In the first place, the sample size of this study is relatively small and it was not randomly selected. Secondly, as a case study, an exploratory one, the time of the present study is relatively short. Thirdly, analysis in the present study is not thorough enough as a result of time limitation. The change of one dimension compared with another is not explored. But the results in this study here are hoped to benefit language teachers,students and researchers in this area in the future.