A Correlational Study On Grammatical Sensitivity?Syntactic Complexity And Writing Quality Among Learners In Second Language Writing

Language aptitude constitutes one of the individual differences predicting the proficiency of foreign language learners.The representation of the four indicators of language aptitude among first,second language learners and multilinguals have been studied more at home and abroad.Grammatical sensitivity is the ability to recognize the grammatical functions of words(or other linguistic entities)in sentence structures,while Syntactic complexity,referred to the syntactic maturity,is the complex composition and output of syntax.Thus,grammatical sensitivity can guide language learners in identifying and dissecting complicated sentential structures,which in turn could enhance learners' sensitivity to disparate syntactic construction.Studies on syntactic complexity conducted in foreign countries were originally around the writing output of primary and secondary school students who were native speakers.Then,researchers began to turn their attentions to the syntactic complexity of second language and multiple language learners,from the point of its measures,writing level and quality to the syntactic complexity of programming languages.Domestic studies have been targeted at exploring the syntactic complexity in different genres(argumentative and descriptive writings),journals(the abstract of academic journals)as well as the measures of syntactic complexity.However,hardly have scholars ever figured out the relation between grammatical sensitivity and syntactic complexity.In this regard,based on the syntactically analytical model,this thesis,with a collection of 79 argumentative writings from second language learners,attempts to make the concrete relations more clearly and answers the following questions:1)Is there a correlation between grammatical sensitivity and syntactic complexity? If yes,what are the significances?2)Among the fourteen indices of syntactic complexity,which ones are related to writing quality for second language learners? Are they,to some extent,interacted with grammatical sensitivity?3)What's the role of writing quality played in syntactic complexity? Are there any significant differences among the high,intermediary and low proficient writing groups in terms of writing quality?Totaling 79 participants(47females,32males)from a top university in Nanjing,China were involved in this study.They were non-English major postgraduate students,who have furthered their academic English learning after having undergone the national postgraduate examination.Besides,they are all equipped with approximately 12-15 years of English learning experience.Grammatical sensitivity of subjects was tested by means of Modern Language Aptitude Test(MLAT)in the present study;backed by Second Language Syntactic Complexity Analyzer,syntactic complexity of second language writing was measured.It has been testified that descriptive writing couldn't reflect the variation of syntax in second language writing,so that argumentative one is preferred.The research findings are: 1)As for the grammatical sensitivity and writing scores,a moderately positive correlation is proved to be found between them,meaning that learners of higher grammatical sensitivity are more prone to be highly proficient second language writers.2)Complex nominals per T-unit(CN/T)and complex nominals per clause(CN/C)are greatly related to the writing scores for the second language learners.Besides,concerning the Pearson correlation between the 14 measures and grammatical sensitivity,it can be seen that verb phrases per T-unit(VP/T)and complex nominals per T-unit(CN/T)are closely linked with learners' sensitivity to grammatical rules.3)Significant differences were cast in learners from high and low proficiency groups in terms of syntactic complexity.For those with high writing proficiency,the number of clauses,complex nominals in T-units and clauses is above the average.In terms of second language learning,it has been proved that writing are highly related with the grammatical sensitivity,with a linear progression revealing that students who are more sensitive to the grammar,are prone to be more competent in the writing output.Traditionally,writing measuring scores are significantly influenced by the mean length of sentence,clause and T-unit.These figures can be a reflection of that intermediary and low score groups endeavored to write long sentences,while high score group preferred to focus on the well-chosen structures of their sentences rather than the length.P values of MLT are higher in the high and intermediary writing score groups than that of intermediary and low groups together with high and low score groups,a testimony to that T-units have played an important role in determining the output development of second language learners.Here,based on the research findings,the author believes that learners' writing quality should be considered in real teaching activities by teachers who need to take disparate measures in accordance with individual differences.Learners should be encouraged to use complicated sentential structures in a specific context,rather than pursue long sentences in classrooms.