This paper reports a longitudinal study investigating Japanese high school students’ development in the use of noun phrases in English writing and its relationship with their noun phrase grasp. With a one-year gap between two test administrations, 202 students took a writing test, and their responses were analyzed according to four types of noun phrases, namely “this + a noun” (Stage 1), “a noun with a prepositional phrase” (Stage 2), “a noun with a participle” (Stage 2), and “a noun with a relative clause” (Stage 3). They were also given a noun phrase test called Koukousei Billy’s Test, or KB Test, to examine their grasp of noun phrases. First, their use of noun phrases in their writing responses was analyzed according to the four types. It was then compared to the KB Test scores so that the relationship between their grasp and use of noun phrases could be studied. The results indicated that their use of noun phrases changed in one year, and this change was also reflected on the KB Test scores.
https://ror.org/04hx9jj82 
