A Dynamic Usage-based Investigation of Written L2 English Development in Sojourn

Dr. Zeynep Köylü (Universität Basel)

This talk is based on my cumulative habilitation project, which investigates how advanced learners of English as a second language (L2) develop their written proficiency during a semester abroad. Grounded in a dynamic usage-based (DUB) perspective (Behrens, 2009; Verspoor & Behrens, 2011), this project probes into key issues in second language acquisition (SLA) such as individual variability, nonlinear developmental trajectories, and the interplay among certain dimensions of written L2 performance as complex linguistic subsystems. It aims to understand how immersion in a study-abroad context can facilitate written L2 development even beyond high proficiency thresholds, where developmental plateaus are typically expected. The project comprises five interconnected studies, each contributing to a multidimensional understanding of written L2 development. Drawing on both holistic ratings and fine-grained measures of syntactic complexity, lexical sophistication, formulaic language, and verb-argument constructions (VACs), it traces patterns of change over time. Across the five studies, significant gains are observed in overall proficiency, formulaicity, and VAC use, but with significant individual variation due to pre-sojourn proficiency. Overall, the studies challenge traditional assumptions about ultimate attainment in SLA and highlight the need for methodological approaches that account for both intra-individual dynamics and group-level trends. This project thus addresses the problem of ergodicity in SLA research (Lowie & Verspoor, 2019) and offers an empirically grounded, theory-informed framework for assessing advanced L2 learners. The talk also includes some key pedagogical implications of for curriculum design and instructional practices in immersion and international education settings.

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