Based on data of 90 pieces of writings from two corpora WECCL and LOCNESS, the paper makes a study of the differentiation of texts by L1 and L2 learners in respect of lexical complexity. The tools used to process the data include AntConc, SPSS 19, the Web-based Lexical complexity analyzer - Single Mode etc. The findings of the research are as follows: first, there are significant underuses of modifiers and adverbs in L2 learners’ writings; second, there are more sophisticated words such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and modifiers in the L1 learners’ writings than in the L2 learners’ writings. Finally, some pedagogical suggestions are raised to enhance the L2 writing instruction. For instance, first, the L2 instructors should arouse the learners’ attention to the differences between the learners’ mother language and L2, to eradicate with efforts the negative transfer of the mother language of the L2 learner; second, the instructors should implant in the students more knowledge on English stylistics, by making clear difference between oral style and written style; third, the instructors should compile more updated English text books with authentic English material from online English corpora.

Ronggen Zhang. On the Differentation of Texts by L1 and L2 Learners. Frontiers in Educational Research (2021) Vol. 4 Issue 1: 20-25. https://doi.org/10.25236/FER.2021.040105.

[1] Granger, S. (1998). The computer learner corpus: A versatile new source of data for SLA research. In Granger, S. (ed.) Learner English on Computer. (pp. 3–18). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.

[2]  Wen Q.F., Liang M. C., & Yan, X. Q. (2008). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 

[3]  Biber D., Johansson S., Leech G., Conrad S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London: Longman. 

[4] Wilkens, R., & Dalla, V., Alessandro, B., Marcely Z., Padró, M., &Villavicencio, A. (2014). Size does not matter. Frequency does. A study of features for measuring lexical complexity. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 8864, 129-140. 

[5]  Frear M. and Bitchener, J. (2015). The effects of cognitive task complexity on writing complexity. Journal of Second Language Writing, 30: 45-57.

[6]  Johnson, D. (2017).Cognitive task complexity and L2 written syntactic complexity, accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency: A research synthesis and meta-analysis. Journal of Second Language Writing, 37:13-38.

[7] Silpa, K & Irshad, M. (2018). Lexical Simplification of Complex Scientific Terms. 1-5. 10.1109/ICETIETR.2018.8529069.

[8] Mahajan, R. & Zaveri, M. (2016). Machine Learning based paraphrase identification system using lexical syntactic features. 2016 IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Computing Research, ICCIC 2016

[9] Trips, C. (2016). Syntactic analysis of phrasal compounds in corpora: A challenge for NLP tools, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, LREC 2016, 1092-1097.

[10] Dell’Oglio, P., Brunato, D. & Dell'Orletta, F. (2018). Lexicon and Syntax: Complexity across Genres and Language Varieties, CEUR Workshop Proceedings, v 2253, 2018, Proceedings of the 5th Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics, CLiC-it 2018. 

[11] Yang, J., Huang, P. & Wu, L. (2013).An analysis of Chinese students' improper understanding of adverbial position, A comparative study based on the corpora of CEEW and LOCNESS, Journal of Huaibei Normal University ( Philosophy and Social Sciences) (in Chinese), 34 (5), 190-193. 

[12] Yin, H.Y. (2017).A Contrastive Study on Four-Word Lexical Bundles in Argumentative Writing Between Chinese Undergraduates and Native Undergraduates —A Corpus-Based Approach, Xi 'an Polytechnic University (in Chinese), MA Thesis, 51-52.

[13] Zhang Rui; Lv Changhong. (2019). On the application of time series conjunctions by English learners- A study based on the corpora of TECCL and LOCNESS, Journal of Changji University(in Chinese), 5,36-39. 

[14] Lu, X. (2012). The Relationship of Lexical Richness to the Quality of ESL Learners' Oral Narratives. The Modern Language Journal, 96(2), 190-208.