Assessment  of  grammatical  knowledge  is  a  rather  neglected  area  of  research  in  the  field with  many  open  questions  (Purpura,  2004).  The  present  research  incorporates  recent proposals  about  the  nature  of  grammatical  development  to  create  a  framework  consisting of dimensions of complexity, range and strength, and studies which dimension(s) can best predict the stat...

This quasi-experimental study aimed to investigate the effect of task repetition under four conditions on the three dimensions of oral production (accuracy, complexity and fluency) and grammatical knowledge gain of learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). 40 young learners of English as a Foreign Language in four classes were randomly assigned into one of the following groups: repetitio...

The shift of emphasis away from written to oral skills has stimulated an incipient concern in second language research to investigate ways of helping second and foreign language learners achieve higher degrees of oral proficiency. Priority solely taken over accuracy, complexity, or fluency of speech might be justifiable with regard to the context in which learning takes place.  Accuracy and com...

Theories of natural language syntax often characterize grammatical knowledge as a form of abstract computation. This paper argues that such a characterization is correct, and that fundamental properties of grammar can and should be understood in terms of restrictions on the complexity of possible grammatical computation, when defined in terms of generative capacity. More specifically, the paper...