Developmental trajectories of discourse features by age and learning environment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7155482 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yuko Goto Butler (0000-0002-9531-3469, 6572 University of Pennsylvania , 3700 Walnut Street , Philadelphia , PA 19104-6216 , USA), Yeting Liu (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences , City University of Macau , Macau , China) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1625-1665 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0019-042X • E-ISSN: 1613-4141 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/iral-2024-0199 |
| OpenAlex | W4406598133 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 41 |
This study investigated the development of discourse features in young learners of a foreign language (YLLs), focusing on their complexity, accuracy, fluency (CAF), and vocabulary. The study also examined the relationship between CAF and communicative adequacy, and the influence of YLLs’ socio-economic status (SES) on discourse development. The participants were Grades 5, 8, and 10 learners of English in China (32 students in each grade level) who were selected through a stratified random sampling from a larger project and 15 advanced adult learners of English as a comparative group. They engaged in a story-telling task using a wordless picture book. The participants’ communicative adequacy was operationalized as the narrative structure based on story grammar, and 17 discourse features representing CAF were examined across grade levels and SES groups. A series of ANOVA and correlational analyses found that CAF measures generally showed significant differences by grade with some varied patterns reflecting the multidimensional natures of CAF constructs. SES effects appeared in secondary school levels. CAF measures were not interrelated significantly in Grade 5 but showed greater interrelatedness within and across dimensions among students in higher grades. Fluency contributed most to the communicative adequacy measured by story grammar, followed by vocabulary
Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Developmental psychology · Sociology · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · History · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching
Strategic planning, task structure and performance testing
Caf
Measuring spoken language
Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency in Second Language Acquisition
Modelling Second Language Performance
The Differential Effects of Three Types of Task Planning on the Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy in L2 Oral Production
Task complexity, task difficulty, and task production
Towards an Organic Approach to Investigating CAF in Instructed SLA
Intricacies of the Multifaceted Triad-Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency
Speaking proficiency of young language students
Coming to grips with lexical richness in spontaneous speech data
The elementary forms of narrative coherence in young children’s storytelling
The elementary forms of narrative coherence in young children's storytelling
Introduction
Predicting functional adequacy from complexity, accuracy, and fluency of second-language picture-prompted speaking
The Emergence of Complexity, Fluency, and Accuracy in the Oral and Written Production of Five Chinese Learners of English
The Effects of Pre-Task Planning and On-Line Planning on Fluency, Complexity and Accuracy in L2 Monologic Oral Production
The Cognition Hypothesis
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |