| Syntactic complexity refers to the diversity and complexity of syntactic structures in language production.In recent years,the research about syntactic complexity has attracted wide attention.The previous research mainly focused on its definition,dimensions and measurement,as well as the factors which affected the development of syntactic complexity.But the research on characteristics of syntactic complexity development in English learners' writing is relatively few.Therefore,this study focuses on the syntactic complexity of English postgraduates' writing,and explores the characteristics of syntactic complexity development and the interplay among each dimensions.Based on dynamic systems theory,four first-year English postgraduates in a university in Hunan are the research subjects.The study mainly explores three questions: 1)What are the general characteristics of the four English postgraduates' syntactic complexity development? 2)What are the individual characteristics of the four English postgraduates' syntactic complexity development? 3)How do the four dimensions of syntactic complexity interact with each other ?In this study,40 English compositions of four English postgraduates during eight months were analyzed by using L2 SCA.The four English postgraduates were asked to hand in one composition about 400 wordevery 3 weeks.and based on the data obtained,Excel and SPSS were used to analyze the characteristics of the four English postgraduates' syntactic complexity development and the interplay among each dimensions.The major findings are as follows: 1)The last data of each dimension of the four English postgraduates' syntactic complexity is higher than the initial one,but the development presents a non-linear characteristic and the points of peaks and valleys are different,and there are significant differences among the dimensions,which shows that the general trend of the four subjects' syntactic complexity development is rising,with strong dynamics and variability.2)Each dimension of individual syntactic complexity in the four English postgraduates also presents a non-linear characteristic,different from general development trajectory,and there are inter-individual and intra-individual differences.This further illustrates the individual variability in the development of syntactic complexity.3)The relationship among four dimensions of the four English postgraduates' syntactic complexity is constantly changing,sometimes developing coordinately,sometimes supporting each other,and sometimes competing with each other.This proves that the interplay among different dimensions of the four English postgraduates' syntactic complexity is dynamic,showing continuous changes in the relationship between support and competition.This study enriches studies on the characteristics of syntactic complexity development in English writing,and further clarifies language view that language development is complex,dynamic and non-linear in DST.It also provides guidance to English writing teaching.Due to the limitation of time and resources,this study only partially presents the characteristics of syntactic complexity development and the interplay among each dimensions. |
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