Learner corpus studies using syntactic complexity as a construct for characterizing learner proficiency have found that higher proficiency permits learners to produce more complex syntactic structures. However, the majority of previous studies have focused on writing, almost exclusively with adult second language (L2) learners. Given the fundamentally different mechanisms underlying speaking and writing activities, this study investigated (a) how different processes involved in writing and speaking performance affect child L2 learners? sentence production, and (b) whether syntactic complexity is a better predictor of proficiency in a particular production type. To this end, we analyzed syntactic complexity for written and spoken corpora supplied by native Korean-speaking child learners of English using 7 syntactic complexity indices. Results showed that learners used longer sentences, more subordination, more verb phrases per T?unit, and less coordination in writing than in speaking. In addition, a prediction model fitted to the written corpus explained more of the variance in proficiency scores than a model based on the spoken corpus. These findings indicate that the different processes underlying writing and speaking influence the way that beginning-level child L2 learners produce sentences in writing and speaking tasks.

中文翻译：

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书面与口语制作方式对初级儿童 EFL 学习者句法复杂度测量的影响

使用句法复杂性作为表征学习者熟练程度的结构的学习者语料库研究发现，较高的熟练程度允许学习者产生更复杂的句法结构。然而，以前的大多数研究都集中在写作上，几乎完全针对成人第二语言 (L2) 学习者。鉴于口语和写作活动的根本不同机制，本研究调查了 (a) 写作和口语表现所涉及的不同过程如何影响儿童二语学习者？句子生产，以及（b）句法复杂性是否能更好地预测特定生产类型的熟练程度。为此，我们使用 7 个句法复杂性指数分析了母语为韩语的儿童英语学习者提供的书面和口语语料库的句法复杂性。结果表明，与口语相比，学习者在写作中使用更长的句子、更多的从属关系、更多的动词短语和更少的写作协调。此外，与基于口语语料库的模型相比，适合书面语料库的预测模型解释了更多的熟练度分数差异。这些发现表明，写作和口语的不同过程会影响初级二语学习者在写作和口语任务中造句的方式。