ABSTRACT
Chapter 17 compares L1 and L2 writing for a number of complexity features, both phrasal and clausal. Important variation across registers and language background indicate the role of situational characteristics in mediating the developmental sequence proposed by Biber et al. (2011). First, as in Staples et al. (2016), it can be seen that certain registers use more phrasal features than others. Second, L2 writers used both attributive adjectives and premodifying nouns more than L1 writers. The chapter additionally considers the role of lexico-grammatical features, showing that L2 writers are repeating the same adjective-noun and noun-noun sequences more often than L1 writers. The lexico-grammatical analysis also reveals important differences in the ways particular verbs are used within verb complement clauses and the particular subordinators that are used within adverbial clauses. Specifically, the analysis provides some evidence that causative (because) subordinate clauses and conditional (if) subordinate clauses might deserve separate analysis within a lexico-grammatical model of complexity.
