The relationship between structure complexity and foreign language linguistic knowledge

Abstract: This article reports on a study which analysed the role of the complexity of linguistic structures in foreign language learners’ linguistic knowledge in terms of both explicit and implicit knowledge. Since it has been proposed that different structure characteristics might be a factor influencing explicit and implicit knowledge development, the complexity of the present study target structures was varied. Implicit knowledge was measured by means of an oral elicited imitation test, and explicit knowledge by means of an untimed grammaticality judgement test and a metalinguistic test. All tests were administered to a sample of 206 participants, Bosnian EFL learners. 100 participants were learners finishing primary school (aged 14-15) and 106 were learners finishing secondary school (aged 18-19). The results indicate that the level of explicit and implicit knowledge varies depending on the structure characteristics. However, the results also suggest that there are differences in the difficulty of grammatical structures in terms of explicit and implicit knowledge development. Structures that are easy in terms of implicit knowledge might be difficult in terms of explicit knowledge and vice versa.