A Prelude to Determine 'Datum Point' for MA Writing in English: Comparing Syntactic Complexity of Inner-Circles and Expanding-Circles

Autor/in	Demir, Cuneyt
Titel	A Prelude to Determine 'Datum Point' for MA Writing in English: Comparing Syntactic Complexity of Inner-Circles and Expanding-Circles
Quelle	In: Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6 (2021) 2, S.31-70 (33 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2490-4198
Schlagwörter	Syntax; Native Language; Native Speakers; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Writing (Composition); English (Second Language); Masters Theses; Foreign Countries; Language Teachers; Discourse Analysis; Academic Language; Writing Skills; United States; United Kingdom (England); Canada; Australia; Turkey; Saudi Arabia; Russia; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Muttersprachler; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Schreibübung; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Ausland; Language teacher; Sprachunterricht; Diskursanalyse; Academic; Language; Languages; Akademiker; Sprache; Wissenschaftssprache; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; USA; Kanada; Australien; Türkei; Saudi-Arabien; Russland
Abstract	Writing native-like has always been a primary purpose for non-native writers of English and, accordingly, many language components have been investigated to develop writers' fluency. One of these language components is syntactic complexity (SC), which is often regarded as a reliable way to grade any texts from easy to difficult. This study aims to compare native and non-native writers' fluency by measuring their SC and to create a reference SC point for non-native writers of English. To achieve this, the study comprised two groups: Group 1 was composed of native speakers from Inner-circle countries, namely USA, England, Canada, and Australia, and Group 2 was composed of non-native speakers from Expanding countries, namely Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China. The data were composed of 200 MA dissertations in ELT equally collected from countries in Group 1 and Group 2. SC realisations were divided into 14 subcategories. The 14 sub-categories constituted a taxonomy for SC and they were analysed through ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Independent sample t-test, and Mann-Whitney tests. The results showed that there is a statistically significant difference in 9 categories in favour of Group 1 and that the average SC scores of Group1 are significantly high compared to Group 2. The study suggests that writers of MA dissertations pay particular attention to SC, if native-like fluency is sought because it was concluded that native writers of MA dissertations are prone to write with higher SC level when compared to non-native writers of MA dissertations. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Faculty of Human and Social Sciences of Tunis, Tunisia. 94 BD du 9 Avril Tunis 1007, Tunisia. Tel: 216-71564797; Fax: 216-567551; Web site: arjals.com/ajal
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01