Lexical Complexity Development from Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective: Lexical Density, Diversity, and Sophistication

Autor/inn/en	Kalantari, Reza; Gholami, Javad
Titel	Lexical Complexity Development from Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective: Lexical Density, Diversity, and Sophistication
Quelle	In: International Journal of Instruction, 10 (2017) 4, S.1-18 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1694-609X
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Second Language Learning; English (Second Language); Longitudinal Studies; Case Studies; Lexicology; Systems Approach; Essays; Females; Difficulty Level; Statistical Analysis; Word Lists; Correlation; Iran + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Zweitsprachenerwerb; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Lexikologie; Systemischer Ansatz; Essay; Aufsatzunterricht; Weibliches Geschlecht; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Statistische Analyse; Wortliste; Korrelation
Abstract	This longitudinal case study explored Iranian EFL learners' lexical complexity (LC) through the lenses of Dynamic Systems Theory (DST). Fifty independent essays written by five intermediate to advanced female EFL learners in a TOEFL iBT preparation course over six months constituted the corpus of this study. Three Coh-Metrix indices (Graesser, McNamara, Louwerse, & Cai, 2004; McNamara & Graesser, 2012), three Lexical Complexity Analyzer indices (Lu, 2010, 2012; Lu & Ai, 2011), and four Vocabprofile indices (Cobb, 2000) were selected to measure different dimensions of LC. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) indicated an improvement with regard to only lexical sophistication. Positive and significant relationships were found between time and mean values in Academic Word List and Beyond-2000 as indicators of lexical sophistication. The remaining seven indices of LC, falling short of significance, tended to flatten over the course of this writing program. Correlation analyses among LC indices indicated that lexical density enjoyed positive correlations with lexical sophistication. However, lexical diversity revealed no significant correlations with both lexical density and lexical sophistication. This study suggests that DST perspective specifies a viable foundation for analyzing lexical complexity. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	International Journal of Instruction. Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Faculty of Education, Eskisehir, 26480, Turkey. e-mail: iji@ogu.edu.tr; Web site: http://www.e-iji.net
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01