Testing the Relationship of Linguistic Complexity to Second Language Learners’ Comparative Judgment on Text Difficulty

Abstract This study examined the relationship of linguistic complexity, captured using a set of lexical richness, syntactic complexity, and discoursal complexity indices, to second language (L2) learners’ perception of text difficulty, captured using L2 raters’ comparative judgment on text comprehensibility and reading speed. Testing materials were 180 texts abridged from college English coursebooks, and raters were 90 advanced Chinese learners of L2 English. Forty‐five raters read paired texts and determined which text was harder to understand in each pair, and another 45 raters read paired texts and determined which text they read faster in each pair. Two stepwise linear regression models containing lexical, syntactic, and discoursal features explained 48.1% and 54.6% of the variance in L2 learners’ estimates of text comprehensibility and reading speed, respectively, outperforming four commonly used language readability models. These findings contribute useful insights into the relationship between linguistic complexity and L2 learners’ perception of text difficulty.