Comparing the longitudinal development of phraseological complexity across oral and written tasks

Abstract This study builds upon previous research investigating the construct validity of phraseological complexity as an index L2 development and proficiency. Whereas studies have focused on cross-sectional comparisons written productions across proficiency levels, current compares longitudinal in oral elicited over a 21-month period from learners French. We also improve state art by including L1 data to benchmark learner levels complexity. Phraseological complexity, operationalized diversity (no. types) sophistication (PMI) adjectival modifiers (adjective + noun) direct objects (verb noun), was generally higher writing compared speaking. Over period, units increased slightly but developmental patterns were found differ between tasks, highlighting importance considering task characteristics when measuring