The study compared the syntactic complexity and the use of logical connectors in summaries written in French by two groups of students: speakers of French as first language (L1) and peers in a French-immersion program (L2) from grade nine to university. Both L1 and L2 groups of university students demonstrated more general complexity in their written summaries than less mature writers. However, the use of phrasal elaboration was apparent just at the upper secondary and university levels with L1 students. Both groups generally tend to overuse causal connectors while underusing additive and adversative connectors compared to the author’s use in the source text. Yet both groups employ significantly more adversative connectors just at the post-secondary level. The only difference observed between L1 and L2 writers was in the diversity of connector words used in the summary, with the former group using a richer, more diverse vocabulary. Several measures for succinctness differentiated L1 and L2 students in early secondary with the latter group condensing the source text less than L1 students. Correlation analysis suggested that many measures of syntactic complexity and connector use are inextricably linked.

该研究比较了两组学生用法语撰写的摘要中的句法复杂性和逻辑连接符的使用：以法语为第一语言的学生（L1）和从九年级到大学参加法语沉浸式课程的同龄人（L2）。与不太成熟的作家相比，L1 和 L2 组的大学生在书面摘要中表现出更普遍的复杂性。然而，短语阐述的使用仅在高中和大学阶段的母语学生中很明显。与作者在源文本中的使用相比，这两个群体通常倾向于过度使用因果连接器，而较少使用附加和对抗连接器。然而，这两个群体在高等教育阶段都使用了更多的对抗性连接器。第一语言和第二语言作者之间观察到的唯一区别在于摘要中使用的连接词的多样性，前一组使用更丰富、更多样化的词汇。中学早期的 L1 和 L2 学生通过多项简洁性衡量标准进行了区分，后者对源文本的压缩程度低于 L1 学生。相关分析表明，许多句法复杂性的衡量标准和连接词的使用有着千丝万缕的联系。