Exploring noun lexical diversity and noun phrase complexity in Spanish email writing at B1 and C1 levels
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32714/ricl.13.02.01Keywords:
lexical diversity; NP complexity; learner email writing; CEFR B1; CEFR C1Abstract
Research on noun phrase use in EFL writing has mainly focused on linguistic complexity and accuracy, lexical richness, and phraseological competence. However, the relationship between noun lexical diversity of nouns and the syntactic complexity of the noun phrases in which these nouns appear remains underexplored. To address this gap, this paper examines the lexical diversity of head nouns in noun phrases within a sample of emails written by L1 Spanish EFL learners at B1 and C1 proficiency levels, taken from the FineDesc Learner Corpus. The analysis considers both the lexical diversity of nouns and the syntactic complexity of the noun phrases they head. The findings reveal: a) a narrower range of nouns at the B1 level compared to the C1 level; b) a low percentage of nouns from both levels, based on the English Vocabulary Profile; and c) differences in NP complexity between the two proficiency levels (B1 and C1), depending on whether the head nouns are concrete or abstract. The paper underscores the importance of combining different complexity measures ––namely, lexical diversity and NP complexity analyses–– to gain a more comprehensive understanding of learners’ use of noun phrases.
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