Linguistic complexity across CEFR proficiency levels: the case of variety of verb forms in written spanish

Abstract

This study is a contribution to the empirical description of the proficiency levels defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and certified by the multilevel exam of Spanish for academic purposes of Nebrija University. The data consisted of 124 texts written in response to two tasks of the writing paper of an experimental form of the above mentioned exam. Expert raters using two descriptor scales, one holistic and one focusing on grammatical range and accuracy, classified the texts in the A-C1 CEFR levels. The study examined the relationship between the assigned CEFR levels and measures of variety of verb forms. The results showed that there were weak correlations (p<0,05) between assigned CEFR levels as assessed by the raters using the two descriptor scales measures of syntactic variety. Furthermore, it was found that some of the analyzed linguistic features could distinguish across the CEFR levels (p<0,05).