Probing into Literature Reviews
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Date
2024
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Publisher
University of Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
Previous research has established the significance of syntactic complexity as a measure of writing proficiency, but there is a lack of corpus-based research focusing on literature reviews in general and literature reviews in doctoral theses in particular. Furthermore, syntactic complexity is influenced by a number of factors; the most prominent one is language proficiency. With growing recognition of syntactic complexity as a key indicator of writing proficiency and a crucial factor in language writing development, this study addresses this gap by comparing the syntactic complexity of literature reviews written by British native English speakers and Algerian English as a foreign language students in the field of Applied Linguistics. The research followed a corpus-based approach, analyzing a corpus of 22 literature reviews’ sections from doctoral theses in this field of study. The Tool for Automatic Analysis of Syntactic Complexity was used to assess a range of traditional and fine-grained syntactic complexity measures. Multivariate Analysis of Variance and subsequent univariate tests were conducted to determine any statistically significant differences between the two groups. The analysis revealed a significant effect of language status on the measured syntactic complexity, with Algerian students displaying a greater tendency toward coordination (Coordinate Phrases per Clause) compared to native English speakers who favoured subordination (Dependent Clause Ratio). These results have implications for understanding the development of syntactic complexity in language writing, specifically emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and addressing first language influences within pedagogical approaches.