A Study On The Developmental Patterns Of Senior High School English Learners’ Writing Performance From The Perspective Of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory

Linguists have long been interested in second language writing since it is regarded as a critical component of second language teaching and learning.However,the majority of the current studies on second language writing are cross-sectional studies that only focus on one dimension of complexity,accuracy,or fluency,lacking a description of the dynamic developmental trajectories of these three dimensions.Meanwhile,in studies on second language writing based on CDST,variability analysis is typically utilized to present the individual learners’ language development process,and using multilevel modelling to track senior high school students’ second language writing developmental patterns over time needs to be further studied.This study used a multilevel modelling technique based on CDST to follow 68 grade two senior high school students in Tongliao throughout three semesters.In this study,syntactic complexity of writing,linguistic accuracy,and fluency were applied as measurements to investigate the developmental patterns of both individual and group students’ writing performance.Additionally,a qualitative analysis was conducted to explain the different developmental patterns of the writing of the highand low-growth group students through their reflective journals and retrospective semi-structured interviews.This research addresses the following two research questions: 1.What are the developmental patterns of senior high school students’ writing performance? 2.What factors influence the developmental patterns of senior high school students’ writing performance?The main findings of this study are as follows: 1.Level 1 of the multilevel modelling shows that individual students’ writings have different developmental patterns,all showing non-linear features with different degrees of variability;Level 2 of the modelling reveals that the group students exhibit a minor decline in linguistic accuracy,a weak increase in linguistic fluency,and a considerable growth in writing syntactic complexity.Students’ writing syntactic complexity,linguistic accuracy,and fluency show distinct different developmental patterns: the high-growth group displays an ascending trend,while the low-growth group shows a declining trend.2.Due to a combination of positive affection and internal and external incentives,the high-growth group experienced a steady increase in writing syntactic complexity,linguistic accuracy,and fluency,whereas the low-growth group experienced a fall later in the study as a result of external motivation and negative affection.The findings of this study support the validity and applicability of the multilevel modelling approach and CDST to the study of second language writing,highlight the complexity and non-linearity of second language writing development in senior high school English learners,and offer several implications for second language writing teaching.