【作者】 王昊；

【导师】 董记华；

【作者基本信息】 山东大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2024， 硕士

【摘要】 句法复杂度的差异与发展是学术英语写作研究的重要议题,然而目前已经开展的研究多聚焦期刊论文写作,对于学生学术写作关注较少,尤其缺乏对学生学术写作中句法复杂度在不同学科间的系统差异和其复杂动态发展过程的细致剖析。这一研究方向有助于拓展学术写作句法复杂度研究中的共时和历时视角,并为未来研究与教学提供启发。因此,本研究聚焦学生学术写作,并基于英国学术书面英语语料库(BAWE)与自建中国大学生学术写作纵向语料库,全面探讨学术写作中句法复杂度的差异与发展。具体而言,本研究通过自动句法复杂度分析工具Tool for the Automatic Analysis of Syntactic Sophistication and Complexity提取两个语料库中文本的句法复杂度指标数据,并在此基础上开展定量和定性分析,旨在揭示四个学科群和31个具体学科之间学生学术写作中的句法复杂度差异,以及从复杂动态系统理论视角讨论中国二语英语学习者在16周学术写作中句法复杂度的动态发展。研究结果表明:(1)学生学术写作的句法复杂度在长度、从属结构、并列结构、短语复杂度以及整体句子复杂度方面,在四个学科组(艺术与人文科学、社会科学、生命科学、物理科学)和在31个学科中表现出显著差异。(2)在学科群中,艺术与人文科学和社会科学的学生学术写作在长度、从属结构、短语复杂度和整体句子复杂度方面高于生命科学和物理科学,而社会科学和生命科学比艺术与人文科学和物理科学学生学术写作则包含更多的并列结构。(3)在具体学科中,部分学科的学生学术写作总体上符合其学科组的句法复杂度特征(如艺术与人文科学中的语言学),而有些学科则偏离了其学科组的句法复杂度特征(如物理科学中的计算机科学)。(4)在研究的16周间,学生学术写作的子句复杂度总体呈下降趋势,短语复杂度呈非线性的上升态势;(5)句法复杂度中的子句和短语结构并不是静态不变或按顺序习得,而在具体语境中呈现出动态的相互作用。随着语言能力发展,学生可能会在学术写作中根据交际需要和任务要求选用特定的复杂子句或短语结构,这显示了学生学术写作中句法结构能力的细颗粒度发展模式。本研究有助于全面了解学生学术写作中句法复杂度的差异和发展特征。具体而言,从系统的学科视角出发,研究发现有助于拓展句法复杂度差异研究的理论范畴,并促进将所辨识的句法特征融入教育实践以提升学习者的学科专业素养。此外,复杂动态系统理论方法的应用还为学术英语(EAP)背景下的学术写作教学和研究提供了方法论参考。更多还原

【Abstract】 Syntactic complexity variation and development have been two long-standing topics in academic English writing research.However,current studies are predominantly confined to the syntactic complexity in published research articles,and fewer take into account student academic writing.More specifically,less attention has been paid to the systematic investigation of disciplinary variation and fine-grained complex dynamic development of syntactic complexity in student academic writing.This line of research helps to extend both the synchronic and diachronic perspectives into syntactic complexity in academic writing research and provides methodological and pedagogical implications for future studies.Therefore,this study focuses on student academic writing,drawing upon the British Academic Written English corpus(BAWE)and a longitudinally self-built corpus of Chinese university students’ academic writing.Employing the Tool for the Automatic Analysis of Syntactic Sophistication and Complexity(TAASSC),this study conducts quantitative and qualitative analyses to comprehensively map out the variation of syntactic complexity across four disciplinary groups and 31 specific disciplines,while also using Complex Dynamic Systems Theory(CD ST)technique to analyze the development of syntactic complexity among EFL learners in a 16-week academic writing course.The findings show that:(1)the syntactic complexity in student academic writing displays significant disciplinary variations in length,subordination,coordination,phrasal sophistication,and overall sentence complexity across the four disciplinary groups(Arts and Humanities,Social Sciences,Life Sciences,and Physical Sciences)and 31 disciplines.(2)by and large,student academic writings in Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences(soft disciplines)display higher syntactic complexity than Life Sciences and Physical Sciences(hard disciplines)in length,subordination,phrasal sophistication,and overall sentence complexity.Social Sciences and Life Sciences’ academic texts contain more coordinated structures than those in Arts and Humanities and Physical Sciences.(3)student academic writings in some disciplines generally align with the syntactic features of their disciplinary groups(e.g.,Linguistics in Arts and Humanities),whilst some deviate from their groups’peculiarities(e.g.,Computer Science in Physical Sciences).(4)a general declining trend for clausal complexity is observed in student academic writing over time,whereas phrasal complexity generally exhibits a non-linear but gradually increasing trajectory.(5)in terms of the interactions between fine-grained syntactic complexity measures,clausal and phrasal structures are not acquired or utilized statically or sequentially,but rather they interact in a more nuanced and context-dependent manner during the developmental process.With the development of language abilities,students may choose between complex clausal or specific phrasal structures upon the communicative needs and task requirements in their academic writing assignments.It demonstrates the nuanced developmental patterns of students’ abilities to organize syntactic structures in academic writing.This study contributes to a more profound understanding of the variation and development of syntactic complexity in student academic writing.Specifically,a systematic disciplinary perspective contributes to methodological insights into expanding the theoretical horizon of syntactic complexity variation research and incorporating the syntactical features identified to cultivate disciplinary academic literacy in pedagogical activities.The application of the CDST approach also offers valuable insights into teaching and research on academic writing within an English for Academic Purposes(EAP)context and provides methodological underpinnings for future research.更多还原