Syntactic Complexity in L2 Reading: A Comparison of Adapted and Original Czech Texts

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61988987%3A17250%2F25%3AA2603D34" target="_blank" >RIV/61988987:17250/25:A2603D34 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://aclanthology.org/2025.quasy-1.7/" target="_blank" >https://aclanthology.org/2025.quasy-1.7/</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Syntactic Complexity in L2 Reading: A Comparison of Adapted and Original Czech Texts

Original language description

This corpus-based study explores the syntactic complexity of adapted Czech texts designed for learners of Czech as a second language (L2). It investigates how syntactic complexity varies according to learner proficiency levels (A2, B1, B2) as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and how these adapted texts differ from their original versions. Quantitative analyses using metrics such as average sentence length (ASL), average clause length (ACL), mean dependency distance (MDD), and mean hierarchical distance (MHD) demonstrate clear systematic simplifications in adapted texts at lower proficiency levels. At A2 and B1 levels, adapted texts were found to be significantly less syntactically complex compared to their original counterparts. However, these differences diminished notably at the B2 proficiency level, indicating a gradual alignment of adapted texts with native-level syntactic complexity as learner proficiency increased. These results underscore the importance of careful syntactic calibration in creating educational materials for language learners, highlighting implications for curriculum design, instructional methodologies, and materials development. The findings offer valuable insights for language educators and textbook authors aiming to optimize reading materials to support language acquisition effectively

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

D - Article in proceedings

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60203 - Linguistics

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Article name in the collection

Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Quantitative Syntax (QUASY, SyntaxFest 2025)

ISBN

979-8-89176-293-0

ISSN

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e-ISSN

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Number of pages

9

Pages from-to

47-55

Publisher name

Association for Computational Linguistics

Place of publication

Ljubljana

Event location

Ljubljana

Event date

Aug 26, 2025

Type of event by nationality

WRD - Celosvětová akce

UT code for WoS article

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