Factors Affecting Grammatical and Lexical Complexity of Long-Term L2 Speakers’ Oral Proficiency

Cornelia Lahmann, Rasmus Steinkrauss, Monika Schmid

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    15 Citations (Scopus)
    186 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    There remains considerable disagreement about which factors drive second language (L2) ultimate attainment. Age of onset (AO) appears to be a robust factor, lending support to theories of maturational constraints on L2 acquisition. The present study is an investigation of factors that influence grammatical and lexical complexity at the stage of L2 ultimate attainment. Grammatical and lexical complexity were assessed in 102 spontaneous oral interviews. Interviewees’ AOs ranged from 7 to 17 years old. Multifactorial analyses yielded consistently significant effects of gender and level of education for grammatical and lexical complexity. Additionally, native language use at work was a significant predictor for lexical complexity; conversely, AO did not emerge as a significant factor. We conclude that grammatical and lexical complexity at the stage of L2 ultimate attainment is the result of a complex interplay of variables that are general to language learning and performance rather than L2 specific.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)354-385
    Number of pages30
    JournalLanguage Learning
    Volume66
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016

    Keywords

    • AGE-OF-ONSET
    • 2ND-LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
    • HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
    • 2ND LANGUAGE
    • MATURATIONAL CONSTRAINTS
    • BILINGUAL DEVELOPMENT
    • SYNTACTIC COMPLEXITY
    • ULTIMATE ATTAINMENT
    • NATIVE SPEAKERS
    • PERSPECTIVE

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