One of the relatively under-researched tenets of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory is the concept of fractality in language. Fractals refer to a self-similar structure where a smaller copy of itself has similar patterns with the structure as a whole (Hiver & Al Horrie, 2020). Prior to the introduction of CDST into applied linguistics, the notion of fractality in language has been investigated through the Menzerath-Altmann Law (the longer a construct is, the smaller its constituents are) and the Zipf-Mandelbrot law (the relationship between the frequency rank of words and their number of occurrences follow the power-law distribution). Common to both laws is the basis of evidence for fractality, i.e., the power law relationship, which is frequently expressed as a linear relationship in the logarithmic scale of the two quantities. Similarly, within the context of CDST, the notion of fractality in the temporal domain of language use is also explored from this perspective. Lowie et al's (2014) study, for example, demonstrated that the pattern of lexical processing in second language use followed a 1/f scaling relation, which, like the power law, also results in a linear relation in the log-log plot. Evans (2020), as well, showed that the frequency/density plot of clausal use by his participant across 30 weeks followed the power-law distribution.
We extended this line of inquiry by using a multifractal analysis to explore the nature of fractality in language. We hypothesised that the nature of fractality in language is multifractal, instead of (mono-)fractal as implicitly assumed in most, if not all, of the currently available study of fractal linguistics. In our study on L1 English texts and L2 English texts, we found evidence of the multifractality in the distribution of 3 syntactic constructs we chose to focus on in English texts - i.e., the Finite Verb Phrases, Noun Phrases, and Head Nouns. In this paper, we will use the same analysis to explore the changes in fractality along L2 writing development. We will look at development cross-sectionally (by comparing texts from different learners across 3 proficiency levels) and semi-longitudinally (by comparing texts produced by a learner over a period of time).
This presentation will demonstrate the use of Multifractal Analysis to explore the changes in fractality in the distribution of the Finite Verb Phrase, the Noun Phrase, and the Head Noun constructs in L2 writing development.
References
Evans, D. (2020). On the fractal nature of complex syntax and the timescale problem. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 10(4), 697-721. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.4.3
Hiver, P., & Al-Hoorie, A. (2020). Research methods for Complexity Theory in applied linguistics. Multilingual Matters.
Lowie, W., Plat, R., & de Bot, K. (2014). Pink noise in language production: A nonlinear approach to the multilingual lexicon. Ecological Psychology, 26(3), 216-228, https://doi.org/10.1080/10407413.2014.929479
