ABSTRACT
It is often assumed that language development follows a path from simplistic to more complex language, and from less varied to more varied lexis; these features have been measured in studies of NNS writing through aspects such as the quantity of language and the variety of lexical chunks (words which together can be considered a single meaning unit, see Chapter One). Thus it might be expected that all student writers will produce increasingly sophisticated academic writing through, for example, the use of longer noun phrases and the inclusion of more coordination and subordination within a greater number of clauses per sentence.
