ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter of the book attempts to accomplish two major goals: (1) synthesizing the research findings from all previous chapters, to answer the question of “what do we know now, as a result of previous Register-Functional (RF) complexity studies?”; and (2) exploring the major avenues of future research that build on that foundation. The state-of-the-art is discussed with respect to synchronic patterns of use for complexity features; diachronic change in the use and grammatical functions of complexity features; patterns of language development relating to the use of complexity features; and finally the nature of the construct of grammatical complexity itself. Then, building on that cumulative body of research findings, the chapter goes on to discuss how RF complexity research can be extended to investigate patterns of use with respect to additional linguistic characteristics and additional domains of use, including consideration of specific lexico-grammatical combinations, and analyses of complexity features in languages other than English.
Early studies that provided the foundation for the Register-Functional (RF) approach to grammatical complexity described the patterns of spoken and written register variation, which in turn led to three major lines of research, focused on synchronic complexity differences among registers; the diachronic development of grammatical complexity across registers; and advanced language development in the use of complexity features across register. The preceding chapters in this book present the results of specific research studies relating to one of those three major strands of research. In addition, there have been RF studies carried out by other authors, especially related to issues of language development; we have described the results from several of those studies in Chapter 13.
