Learning to Write Rationally: How Information Is Distributed in Non-Native Speakers' Essays

TL;DR

This study examines how non-native speakers distribute information in essays, revealing that higher proficiency reduces uncertainty, while uniformity in information distribution appears universal across different L1 backgrounds.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the universality and variability of information distribution patterns in L2 writing across diverse native language backgrounds.

Findings

Higher L2 proficiency reduces expected uncertainty in essays.

Information distribution uniformity is consistent across L2 speakers regardless of L1.

L2 proficiency influences information clarity but not distribution uniformity.

Abstract

People tend to distribute information evenly in language production for better and clearer communication. In this study, we compared essays written by second language learners with various native language (L1) backgrounds to investigate how they distribute information in their non-native language (L2) production. Analyses of surprisal and constancy of entropy rate indicated that writers with higher L2 proficiency can reduce the expected uncertainty of language production while still conveying informative content. However, the uniformity of information distribution showed less variability among different groups of L2 speakers, suggesting that this feature may be universal in L2 essay writing and less affected by L2 writers' variability in L1 background and L2 proficiency.