| 摘要 | 第1-8页 |
| Abstract | 第8-13页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第13-17页 |
| ·Research background and research questions | 第13-15页 |
| ·Significances of the present study | 第15-16页 |
| ·Overall organization of the present study | 第16-17页 |
| Chapter 2 Major concepts and related studies of syntactic complexity | 第17-31页 |
| ·The search for developmental index in L2 development research | 第17-18页 |
| ·Syntactic complexity measurements investigated and majors concepts of relevant production units and structures | 第18-26页 |
| ·Related studies on learners' syntactic complexity | 第26-31页 |
| ·Syntactic complexity studies abroad | 第26-28页 |
| ·Syntactic complexity studies in China | 第28-31页 |
| Chapter 3 Methodology | 第31-36页 |
| ·Research questions | 第31页 |
| ·Data sources | 第31-33页 |
| ·Data from the Spoken and Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners | 第31-33页 |
| ·English native speakers' data | 第33页 |
| ·Indices of syntactic complexity adopted in the study | 第33-35页 |
| ·Statistical analysis | 第35-36页 |
| Chapter 4 Results report | 第36-57页 |
| ·Syntactic complexity demonstrated by Learners of Different Grades | 第36-46页 |
| ·Unit length achieved by learners of different grades | 第36-38页 |
| ·Clause density manifested by learners of different grades | 第38-39页 |
| ·Syntactic patterns adopted by learners of different grades | 第39-46页 |
| ·Comparison of syntactic complexity demonstrated by Chinese English majors andEnglish native speakers | 第46-57页 |
| ·Similarities and differences relating unit length | 第46-47页 |
| ·Similarities and differences relating clause density | 第47-48页 |
| ·Similarities and differences relating syntactic patterns adopted | 第48-57页 |
| Chapter 5 Discussions of syntactic complexity demonstrated by Chinese Englishmajors | 第57-77页 |
| ·Discussions on the developmental pattern of unit length | 第57-61页 |
| ·Discussions on developmental pattern of clause density | 第61-64页 |
| ·Discussions on developmental patterns of sentence patterns | 第64-77页 |
| ·Findings derived from the developmental patterns of independent sentences | 第64-66页 |
| ·Findings derived from the developmental patterns of dependent clauses | 第66-68页 |
| ·Findings derived from the developmental patterns of reduced structures | 第68-71页 |
| ·Findings derived from the developmental patterns of propositional phrase | 第71-73页 |
| ·Findings derived from the developmental patterns of passive forms | 第73-77页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusions | 第77-80页 |
| ·Majors findings of the present study | 第77-78页 |
| ·Implications of the present study | 第78-79页 |
| ·Limitations of the study and suggestions for future studies | 第79-80页 |
| Bibliography | 第80-84页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第84-85页 |
| Appendix | 第85-87页 |
| Publication While Registered with the MA Program | 第87页 |
