Lähivõrdlusi (Oct 2023)
Moniverbiset konstruktiot ja oppijansuomen kompleksisuus kielitaidon eri tasoilla
Abstract
"Verb constructions and complexity across proficiency levels in learner Finnish". Learner language development can be analysed by measuring complexity, accuracy and fluency. Complexity, our focus here, can be defined as the range and sophistication of learner language. Syntactic complexity is typically analysed by quantitatively measuring the length of production units or the amount of subordination rather than by exploring syntactic variation and diversity in learner language. In this article, the development of syntactic complexity in written learner Finnish across the CEFR proficiency levels is studied by exploring changes in the use of non-finite verb constructions. The aim of the study is to bring to light differences in complexity that are not captured by the traditional measures of syntactic complexity. The data in the study comprise 241 written learner Finnish texts (23,596 words) from the University of Jyväskylä Cefling project corpus and they cover all CEFR levels, from A1 to C2. The data are explored both quantitatively and qualitatively. The focus of the study is on the changes in the use of verb constructions containing a finite verb and at least one non-finitive verb form, and on how those changes may reflect the development of syntactic complexity. The results show that the constructions studied do not necessarily grow in length but instead become more varied both lexically and structurally as proficiency increases. Such changes are not revealed by quantitative measures of syntactic complexity focusing on the length of production units. Hence, the results support calls to adopt a more qualitative approach to investigating syntactic complexity. They also suggest that, in some languages, syntactic, morphological and lexical complexity cannot always be separated.
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