Syntactic Networks of Interlanguage Across L2 Modalities and Proficiency Levels.

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Complexity Science
• Second Language Acquisition

Background:

• Interlanguage studies evolved from qualitative to quantitative, often focusing on isolated structures.
• Existing research frequently overlooks the holistic nature of the second language (L2) learner system.
• A complex network approach offers an objective method to study the dynamic L2 interlanguage system.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the syntactic structure of L2 learner language using complex network analysis.
• To quantitatively analyze network parameters across different proficiency levels and modalities.
• To understand the developmental regularities and influences on L2 syntactic networks.

Main Methods:

• Construction of eight interlanguage dependency syntactic networks for Chinese L2 learners (English native speakers).
• Quantitative analysis of network parameters such as average degree (), characteristic path length (L), clustering coefficient (C), and network density (ND).
• Examination of scale-free and small-world properties within the interlanguage syntactic networks.

Main Results:

• All analyzed syntactic networks exhibited scale-free and small-world properties.
• No abrupt syntactic emergence was observed across different interlanguage modalities.
• Network parameters (, L, C, ND, NC) effectively differentiated interlanguage modalities.
• Specific parameters (, C, ND, γ', NC) indicated L2 proficiency levels.

Conclusions:

• The syntactic development of L2 learners shows distinct regularities compared to native language acquisition.
• The first language significantly influences the development of the L2 syntactic network.
• Network analysis provides a robust framework for assessing L2 proficiency and modality characteristics.