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Part of
Current Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics
Edited by Diego Pascual y Cabo and Idoia Elola
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 27] 2020
► pp. 39–62

Chapter 2
Organic models for measuring Spanish learners’ linguistic complexity

| Northern Arizona University
| Northern Arizona University

Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers measure linguistic complexity to assess pedagogical effectiveness and depict development (Norris & Ortega, 2009). Yet, from linguistic and cognitive perspectives, commonly used approaches oversimplify complexity. Furthermore, such approaches do not consider the morphological complexities of a highly inflected L2 like Spanish. Norris and Ortega (2009) encourage SLA researchers to develop empirically and theoretically valid measures of linguistic complexity through an organic (i.e., iterative and data-driven) investigative process; resulting models should be multidimensional and developmentally sensitive. This study delineates three multidimensional models of Spanish L2 linguistic complexity based on a principal component analysis of a corpus of learners participating in a task-based activity at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of university instruction.

Keywords: linguistic complexity, second language learning, Spanish, corpus linguistics, developmental stage
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Shortcomings in current metrics of linguistic complexity
    • 2.2Conceptualizing complexity
    • 2.3Cognitive characteristics of linguistic complexity
  • 3.An ‘organic’ approach to operationalizing L2 linguistic complexity
  • 4.Research questions
  • 5.Method
    • 5.1Participants
    • 5.2Task
    • 5.3Corpus
    • 5.4Dataset
    • 5.5Analysis
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Syntax
    • 6.2Morphology
    • 6.3Corpus samples
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 4 June 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.27.02col
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