https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu:443 The KU ScholarWorks digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material. Mon, 25 Jun 2018 10:37:39 GMT 2018-06-25T10:37:39Z http://hdl.handle.net/1808/26569 Syntactic modification at early stages of L2 German writing development: A longitudinal learner corpus study Vyatkina, Nina This study explores ab initio development of syntactic complexity in a longitudinal corpus of learner German writing from a Dynamic Usage-Based perspective. It contributes to the research on L2 writing complexity by focusing on beginning learners of an L2 other than English (German) and on fine-grained measures of syntactic complexity, operationally defined here as syntactic modification. The results show that not only ubiquitous global measures of syntactic complexity but also more specific measures, namely frequencies of syntactic modifiers, can serve as developmental indices at beginning L2 proficiency levels. The learners in this study modified their writing from the very onset of language study and the overall size and range of the modification system did not significantly change over four semesters. However, its composition changed continuously and reflected non-linear waxing and waning of different modifier categories. The study confirmed some results from previous cross-sectional research showing that interlanguage development is characterized by a decrease in cognitively easier (e.g., uninflected) categories and an increase in cognitively more difficult (e.g., inflected and clausal) categories. The high variability that was found along with uniform group trends demonstrates the necessity of simultaneous investigations of linguistic development in groups and individuals. Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1808/26569 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1808/26568 New developments in the study of L2 writing complexity: An editorial Vyatkina, Nina A growing number of publications are highlighting the promising interfaces between the traditionally separate research areas of Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Writing (see Manchón & Tardy, 2012). Researchers are pointing out the specific aspects of writing that facilitate L2 development, in particular its slower pace and permanent record (vs. speaking), which are conducive to more learner self-reflection and greater linguistic complexity and precision (Verspoor, Schmid, & Xu, 2012; Williams, 2012). Separately, the burgeoning field of research on L2 complexity has yielded both programmatic studies that have re-examined and re-defined the notion of L2 complexity (Bulté& Housen, 2012; Ortega, 2012; Pallotti, 2015), as well as numerous empirical studies that investigate L2 complexity, often in conjunction with related dimensions of accuracy and fluency (e.g., Connor-Linton & Polio, 2014; Housen & Kuiken, 2009; Housen, Kuiken, & Vedder, 2012). This special issue brings several of these research strands together to focus on second language writing complexity. Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1808/26568 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1808/26567 The Twin Mandates Given to the GSEs: Which Works Best, Helping Low-Income Homebuyers or Helping Underserved Areas? McClure, Kirk This research examines the twin mandates of the GSE Act of 1992: to direct mortgage credit to neighborhoods that have been underserved by mortgage lenders and to direct mortgage credit to low-income and minority households. Using the Kansas City metropolitan area as a test site, data from the GSEs have been compared with non-GSE mortgage lenders to determine the performance of the GSEs in meeting these two objectives. This research finds that the GSEs have not performed as well as the conventional lenders. Independent of the use of the secondary mortgage market, borrowers are better served if credit is directed to them independent of location. The alternative approach of directing credit to underserved areas is helpful only insofar as it helps to direct credit to neighborhoods that are marginally less desirable than the neighborhoods deemed to be well served. Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1808/26567 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1808/26566 Rent Burden in the Housing Choice Voucher Program McClure, Kirk The Housing Choice Voucher Program is designed to help low-income households consume housing at an acceptable burden on their income. The incidence of high housing cost in the program has been reduced over the past few years. About 38 percent of all households in the program spend more than 31 percent of their income on housing, down from 47 percent only 2 years earlier. A high housing cost burden appears to stem from very low income rather than from market conditions or decisions by program administrators. Despite program rules, a small percentage of households in the program pay a very high level of income toward housing. It appears that this problem results from some households having very little or no income at the time their housing consumption was recorded. Mon, 01 May 2000 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1808/26566 2000-05-01T00:00:00Z