| Abstract | 第3-4页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-12页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第12-17页 |
| 1.1 Background of the study | 第12-14页 |
| 1.2 Significance of the study | 第14-15页 |
| 1.3 Overall organization of the study | 第15-17页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第17-52页 |
| 2.1 Syntactic complexity in L2 writing development | 第17-22页 |
| 2.1.1 Developmental index | 第17-19页 |
| 2.1.2 Developmental patterns | 第19-22页 |
| 2.2 Syntactic complexity and writing quality | 第22-29页 |
| 2.2.1 Assessment of writing quality | 第23-27页 |
| 2.2.2 The relationship between writing development and writing quality | 第27-29页 |
| 2.3 Syntactic complexity measures | 第29-35页 |
| 2.3.1 Length-based measures | 第31-33页 |
| 2.3.2 Amount of subordination and coordination | 第33-34页 |
| 2.3.3 Particular structures by phrasal sophistication | 第34-35页 |
| 2.4 Definition of production units and structure | 第35-40页 |
| 2.4.1 Sentence | 第35-36页 |
| 2.4.2 T-unit | 第36-37页 |
| 2.4.3 Clauses | 第37-38页 |
| 2.4.4 Dependent clauses | 第38-39页 |
| 2.4.5 Coordinated phrases | 第39页 |
| 2.4.6 Complex nominals | 第39-40页 |
| 2.5 Related studies home and abroad | 第40-52页 |
| 2.5.1 Syntactic complexity studies abroad | 第40-47页 |
| 2.5.2 Syntactic complexity studies in China | 第47-52页 |
| Chapter Three Methodology | 第52-59页 |
| 3.1 Research questions | 第52页 |
| 3.2 Hypothesis | 第52-53页 |
| 3.3 Data source | 第53-54页 |
| 3.4 Data collection | 第54-57页 |
| 3.5 Indexes of syntactic complexity investigated in this study | 第57-58页 |
| 3.6 Statistical analysis procedures | 第58-59页 |
| Chapter Four Data Results and Discussion | 第59-89页 |
| 4.1 Results of syntactic complexity demonstrated by English-majored studentsacross different grades | 第59-71页 |
| 4.1.1 Length of production unit achieved by learners of different grades | 第59-63页 |
| 4.1.2 Amount of subordination used by learners of different grades | 第63-65页 |
| 4.1.3 Amount of coordination used by learners of different grades | 第65-67页 |
| 4.1.4 Degree of phrasal sophistication achieved by learners of differentgrades | 第67-71页 |
| 4.2 Results of correlation between syntactic complexity and writing quality ofEnglish-majored learners across different grades | 第71-75页 |
| 4.2.1 The Correlation between Length of production unit and writing quality | 第72页 |
| 4.2.2 The Correlation between Amount of subordination and writing quality | 第72-73页 |
| 4.2.3 The correlation between Amount of coordination and writing quality. | 第73-74页 |
| 4.2.4 The correlation between Degree of phrasal sophistication and writingquality | 第74-75页 |
| 4.3 Discussion | 第75-89页 |
| 4.3.1 Developmental patterns of syntactic complexity of English-majoredstudents | 第75-83页 |
| 4.3.2 The relationship between syntactic complexity and writing quality ofEnglish-majored learners | 第83-86页 |
| 4.3.3 Salience of the degree of phrasal sophistication in the syntacticcomplexity development | 第86-89页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第89-94页 |
| 5.1 Major findings of the study | 第89-91页 |
| 5.2 Implications of the study | 第91-92页 |
| 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study | 第92-94页 |
| Bibliography | 第94-98页 |
| Appendixes | 第98-101页 |
| Appendix Ⅰ | 第98-100页 |
| Appendix Ⅱ | 第100-101页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第101-102页 |
