Abstract
The relationship between complexity and writing fluency as measured by productbased
metrics is ambiguous and there is concern that different construct labels have
merely been given to similar linguistic features. This is thought to be an adverse effect of
reductionist practice, which seeks to describe a system in light of its constituent parts and
the individual interactions between them. While a number of studies have been conducted
investigating L2 performance and L2 proficiency based on complexity and/or writing
fluency measures, few studies have empirically examined the relationship between their
latent structures. We addressed this research gap on the basis of complexity theory using
network analysis. Data were drawn from the WritingMaetriX corpus, which consists of
342 written essays by Japanese EFL learners. The measures were calculated using tools.
To delineate a network, correlation coefficients between measures were calculated. The
results indicate that the linguistic features of complexity and writing fluency are
complexly intertwined and that complexity and writing fluency cannot be considered
distinct factors. The results also specify the measures playing an important role in the L2
writing performance system. The possibility of network analysis based on complexity
theory is also discussed.
