Attila M Wind

Second language (L2) writing (especially English as a foreign language) is generally considered as one of the most important skills that language learners need to acquire during their language education (Lee, 2016). However, L2 writing might be one of the most difficult skills for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners to develop throughout their language learning process (Barkaoui, 2007; Frydrychova Klimova, 2014). Consequently, writing has often been found to be one of the weakest skills of EFL learners around the world (“IELTS Test taker performance 2016”, 2016), including among Hungarian language learners (Csapo & Nikolov, 2001, 2009; Mihaljevic Djigunovic, Nikolov, & Otto, 2008). In Hungary, as in other contexts, although writing might be one of the most difficult skills to acquire, language learners have been found to spend an insufficient amount of time learning to write in the foreign language classroom (Arva, 2007; Cook, 2005, 2008; Nikolov, 2002). In addition, resear...

This study investigated how the lexical and syntactic features of two Hungarian advanced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ writing evolved over a period of four months from a dynamic systems theory (DST) perspective. The participants provided data in the form of written essays which were analysed computationally by software packages (CohMetrix 2.0, Coh-Metrix 3.0 and Synlex L2 Complexity Analyzer). It was found that both lexical and syntactic indices showed interindividual and intraindividual variability. The log frequency for content words index showed a gradual decline which suggests that both participants started to use less frequent lexical items in their writing. When measure of textual lexical diversity (MTLD) was plotted against mean length of Tunit (MLTU) and MTLD against dependent clause per T-unit (DC/T), it was found that both participants concentrated on lexical complexity rather than on syntactic complexity which was also confirmed by the interview data. The...

From a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) perspective, complex phenomena such as the language learner’s linguistic system, are considered to be nonlinear, completely interconnected, iterative and co-adaptive (Larsen-Freeman, 1997). Although these systems show a certain degree of variability over time, they might also settle into specific states: so-called ‘attractor states’ (de Bot et al., 2007). Previous studies on second language (L2) writing development have explained the lack of variability in language learners’ trajectories as possibly related to ‘attractor states’. However, these studies did not investigate the emergence of attractor states further (Spoelman & Verspoor, 2010; Verspoor et al., 2008). This study adopted a mixed-methods research design to investigate how L2 writing development is facilitated by the use of self-regulatory processes. Data were collected from one Hungarian English as a foreign language (EFL) university student over nine months. The participant composed 23 argumentative essays and was interviewed periodically on his self-regulation. The essays were analysed for lexical and syntactic complexity indices, while the interviews were coded for three key self-regulatory processes: self-observation, self-evaluation and goal-setting. Findings show that the trajectories of linguistic complexity indices were nonlinear over time. Statistically significant developmental peaks were not detected in the participant’s linguistic system, which indicated the emergence of salient attractor states. Qualitative analysis of the interview data revealed that the participant made limited use of self-regulation, which was reflected in the lack of change in the complexity of his L2 writing. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis demonstrated that the student’s motivational system resided in an attractor state related to boredom, frustration and low self-efficacy belief, which may have influenced the stability of his linguistic system. This study contributes to a theoretical understanding of the emergence of attractor states in the linguistic and motivational systems.

This study investigated the longitudinal development of verb argument constructions (VACs) in second language (L2) writing from a dynamic usage-based (DUB) perspective. 14 argumentative essays (seven from each participant) were collected from two Hungarian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners over seven months. The aim of the study was to explore how the frequency and strength of associations of verb argument constructions develop and interact over time. The essays were analysed with the Tool for the Automatic Analysis of Syntactic Sophistication and Complexity (TAASSC) (Kyle, 2016). Locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) was applied to visualize the trend lines of one frequency index (average lemma construction frequency) and three strength of association indices (average faith score construction, average delta p score verb, and collostruction ratio). Moving correlations were calculated to explore the dynamic interactions between the frequency and the three strength of association indices. This study found that both the frequency and the strength of association indices developed nonlinearly and the magnitude and the polarity of the interactions between the frequency and the three strength of associations indices fl uctuated over the seven-month period.

Self-regulation plays an important role in second language (L2) writing development (Wilby, 2020; Teng & Zhang, 2020). Hence, engagement in self-regulation is of crucial importance for successful writers (Cleary & Zimmerman, 2012). Self-reflection, one of the three phases of self-regulation (Zimmerman, 2000), was found to be the most paramount phase in L2 writing development (Nitta & Baba, 2014). Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of studies investigating engagement in self-reflection and longitudinal L2 writing development. This multiple case-study employed a time-series analysis to explore the temporal and dynamic changes in the extent of engagement in self-reflection and its possible role in L2 writing development. Six Hungarian English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners composed seven argumentative essays over a seven-month period, one in each month. After finishing the compositions, the participants were asked to comment on the quality of their essays. The essays were analysed for linguistic complexity indices, while the interviews were coded for self-reflective comments. This study found that as the six participants became more engaged in self-reflection, slight improvements were detected in linguistic complexity indices over time. However, both engagement in self-reflection and L2 writing development showed nonlinearity and inter- and intra-individual variability over time.

From a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) perspective, complex
phenomena such as the language learner’s linguistic system, are considered to be nonlinear, completely interconnected, iterative and
co-adaptive (Larsen-Freeman, 1997). Although these systems show a
certain degree of variability over time, they might also settle into specific
states: so-called ‘attractor states’ (de Bot et al., 2007). Previous studies
on second language (L2) writing development have explained the lack
of variability in language learners’ trajectories as possibly related to
‘attractor states’. However, these studies did not investigate the emergence of attractor states further (Spoelman & Verspoor, 2010; Verspoor et al., 2008). This study adopted a mixed-methods research design to investigate how L2 writing development is facilitated by the use of self-regulatory processes. Data were collected from one Hungarian English as a foreign language (EFL) university student over nine months. The participant composed 23 argumentative essays and was interviewed periodically on his self-regulation. The essays were analysed for lexical and syntactic complexity indices, while the interviews were coded for three key self-regulatory processes: self-observation, self-evaluation and goal-setting. Findings show that the trajectories of linguistic complexity indices were nonlinear over time. Statistically significant developmental peaks were not detected in the participant’s linguistic system, which indicated the emergence of salient attractor states. Qualitative analysis of the interview data revealed that the participant made limited use of self-regulation, which was reflected in the lack of change in the complexity of his L2 writing. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis demonstrated that the student’s motivational system resided in an attractor state related to boredom, frustration and low self-efficacy belief, which may have influenced the stability of his linguistic system. This study contributes to a theoretical understanding of the emergence of attractor states in the linguistic and motivational systems.

This study investigated how the lexical and syntactic features
of two Hungarian advanced English as a Foreign Language
(EFL) learners’ writing evolved over a period of four months
from a dynamic systems theory (DST) perspective. The
participants provided data in the form of written essays which
were analysed computationally by software packages (CohMetrix
2.0, Coh-Metrix 3.0 and Synlex L2 Complexity
Analyzer). It was found that both lexical and syntactic indices
showed interindividual and intraindividual variability. The log
frequency for content words index showed a gradual decline
which suggests that both participants started to use less
frequent lexical items in their writing. When measure of textual
lexical diversity (MTLD) was plotted against mean length of Tunit
(MLTU) and MTLD against dependent clause per T-unit
(DC/T), it was found that both participants concentrated on
lexical complexity rather than on syntactic complexity which
was also confirmed by the interview data. The largest rate
change occurred for coordinate phrases per T-unit (CP/T) for
both participants.

This study investigated how the lexical and syntactic features
of two Hungarian advanced English as a Foreign Language
(EFL) learners’ writing evolved over a period of four months
from a dynamic systems theory (DST) perspective. The
participants provided data in the form of written essays which
were analysed computationally by software packages (CohMetrix
2.0, Coh-Metrix 3.0 and Synlex L2 Complexity
Analyzer). It was found that both lexical and syntactic indices
showed interindividual and intraindividual variability. The log
frequency for content words index showed a gradual decline
which suggests that both participants started to use less
frequent lexical items in their writing. When measure of textual
lexical diversity (MTLD) was plotted against mean length of Tunit
(MLTU) and MTLD against dependent clause per T-unit
(DC/T), it was found that both participants concentrated on
lexical complexity rather than on syntactic complexity which
was also confirmed by the interview data. The largest rate
change occurred for coordinate phrases per T-unit (CP/T) for
both participants.

Second language (L2) writing (especially English as a foreign language) is generally considered as one of the most important skills that language learners need to acquire during their language education (Lee, 2016). However, L2 writing might be one of the most difficult skills for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners to develop throughout their language learning process (Barkaoui, 2007; Frydrychova Klimova, 2014). Consequently, writing has often been found to be one of the weakest skills of EFL learners around the world (“IELTS Test taker performance 2016”, 2016), including among Hungarian language learners (Csapó & Nikolov, 2001, 2009; Mihaljević Djigunović, Nikolov, & Ottó, 2008). In Hungary, as in other contexts, although writing might be one of the most difficult skills to acquire, language learners have been found to spend an insufficient amount of time learning to write in the foreign language classroom (Árva, 2007; Cook, 2005, 2008; Nikolov, 2002). In addition, research has shown that Hungarian university students make limited use of self-regulatory strategies during writing, despite the important role they play in second language writing development (Kormos, 2012; Lam, 2015; Nitta & Baba, 2015, 2018). Research on L2 writing development in the Hungarian context is therefore important to establish where particular challenges may exist, and how these might be addressed in language education programs. L2 writing development has been mainly investigated by studies adopting a two-wave longitudinal research design (Barkaoui, 2016; Bulté & Housen, 2014; Knoch, Rouhshad, & Storch, 2014; Knoch, Rouhshad, Oon, & Storch, 2015; Mazgutova & Kormos, 2015; Storch, 2009; Storch & Tapper, 2009). In a two-wave longitudinal research design, changes in complexity and accuracy indices are measured at two points in time from a large population. Although two-wave longitudinal studies are useful in pointing to tendencies and making generalisations in L2 writing development, most recent research suggests that L2 writing development is idiosyncratic, that is, no two learners exhibit similar developmental patterns (Chan, 2015; Rosmawati, 2016). The 2000s saw the emergence of an influential approach to second language acquisition, the Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), which acknowledges that there is no average language learner (de Bot, Lowie, & Verspoor, 2007). According to the CDST, language is seen “as a dynamic, complex and nonlinear process” (Larsen-Freeman, 1997, p. 142). CDST studies usually adopt a multi-wave research design to gain insight into the dynamic and complex nature of language development (Caspi, 2010; Larsen-Freeman, 2006; Spoelman & Verspoor, 2010; Verspoor, de Bot, & Lowie, 2004; Verspoor, Lowie, & van Dijk, 2008; Verspoor, Lowie, Chan, & Vahtrick, 2017; Verspoor, Lowie, & Wieling, 2018). This study investigates the second language writing development of four Hungarian EFL learners over a nine-month period by adopting a multi-wave mixed-methods research design. The participants were enrolled in an EAP programme offered by a university in Budapest, Hungary. Two argumentative essays were composed each month by the four participants in their naturalistic setting. Furthermore, one argumentative essay was written by the four learners on a monthly basis under a controlled setting. The final mini corpus consisted of 92 argumentative essays collected from the four participants over the nine month period. The four participants were also interviewed on their self-regulatory processes over the nine-month investigation after each controlled written sample was collected. This study found that lexical and syntactic complexity indices developed nonlinearly in the four participants’ written data over the nine-month investigation, substantiating previous studies on L2 writing development (Caspi, 2010; Larsen-Freeman, 2006; Rosmawati, 2016; Spoealman & Verspoor, 2010; Verspoor et al., 2004, 2008, 2017, 2018). However, the directions of the trends were different for all lexical and syntactic complexity and accuracy indices in the four EFL learners’ written data. Lexical and syntactic complexity and accuracy indices showed a great deal of variability in the four learners’ written data over the nine month period. The amount of variability constantly changed in the complexity and accuracy indices over time. In addition, the degree of variability was also different in the four participants’ written data which supports previous studies on L2 writing development (Caspi, 2010; Larsen-Freeman, 2006; van Dijk, Verspoor & Lowie, 2011). This study found that there was a general improvement in one of the participants’ lexicon and in another participant’s accuracy over time as demonstrated by the statistically significant developmental peaks (van Geert & van Dijk, 2002). The interactions between lexical and syntactic complexity and accuracy were dynamic over the nine-month investigation. The polarity of the interactions between lexical and syntactic complexity and accuracy changed from negative to positive and vice versa over time. Moreover, the magnitude of the interactions oscillated over time, ranging from weak to strong associations. The polarity and the magnitude of the interactions within lexical and syntactic complexity and between lexical and syntactic complexity and accuracy were different in the four participants’ written data which supports previous studies on L2 writing development (Spoelman & Verspoor, 2010; Verspoor & van Dijk, 2011). The self-regulatory processes developed nonlinearly and at different rates in the four participants’ learning journey. The four participants’ focus shifted from self-observation to self-evaluation processes at different points in time which substantiates earlier studies on self-regulation (Nitta & Baba, 2015; Sasaki, Mizumoto & Murakami, 2018). In addition, only two learners’ focus shifted from self-evaluation to goal-setting over the nine-month investigation. The findings of this study bear important theoretical, methodological and pedagogical significance and implications. First, the findings of this study support the Complex Dynamic Systems Theory perspective on second language development. Second, this study demonstrated how quantitative and qualitative CDST methods can be combined. Third, this study presented pedagogical implications for teaching and language learning. By demonstrating that language development is dynamic and idiosyncratic and language development is the outcome of the self-organisation of the language systems, this study questions the validity and the effectiveness of an item-processing approach. This study offers a new approach to the study of second language writing development and advances our understanding of the complex and dynamic nature of second language development itself.