Exploring the development of noun phrase complexity in L2 English writings across two genres

Researchers in second language (L2) writing studies are increasingly focusing on examining complex noun phrases (NPs). However, recent studies on NP complexity show a preference for examining advanced learners’ writings, despite the fact that English writings of early L2 learners already contain many NPs. In the present study, we used a corpus-based approach to investigate the development of NP complexity in argumentative and narrative compositions written by English as a foreign language (EFL) learners with different proficiency levels. The results show that eight NP complexity features presented patterns of growth at different proficiency levels. Among the eight features, attributive adjectives and -ing participles as post-modifiers can both reflect the development and characteristics of Chinese EFL learners’ writings. We also found that genre effect on NP complexity growth was the result of both task-related factors of genres and learners’ genre exposure. Our results largely corroborate the developmental index proposed by Biber et al. (2011), and confirm that NP complexity starts to grow from early stages of learning among L2 English learners with genre-specific features.