A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENHANCE AND IMPROVE IN L1 AND L2 ACADEMIC WRITING
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31851/esteem.v8i2.19363Keywords:
Academic writing, Lexical verbs, Enhance and improve, L1 vs. L2 writers, Evaluative stanceAbstract
Lexical verbs like enhance and improve are crucial in academic writing, signaling change, development, and authorial stance. However, their use by native (L1) and non-native (L2) English writers remains underexplored. This comparative study investigates the frequency, grammatical patterns, and stance-related functions of these verbs in journal articles by L1 and L2 authors. Using AntConc and Partington et al.’s (2013) evaluative stance framework, the study analyzes syntactic and semantic usage. Results show that while both groups use the verbs correctly, L1 writers prefer abstract, passive, and nominalized structures that reflect disciplinary conventions and subtle evaluation. L2 writers, however, favor active constructions and concrete collocations, often linked to observable outcomes or instructional contexts. These differences reveal varied approaches to expressing stance and rhetorical positioning, suggesting that L1 writers demonstrate greater awareness of disciplinary norms. The study emphasizes the role of verb choice and syntactic form in academic identity construction and offers implications for academic writing instruction, particularly in supporting L2 writers’ engagement with disciplinary discourse.
References
Afisi, O. T. (2020). The concept of semiotics in charles sanders peirce’s pragmatism. Rends in Semantics and Pragmatics. Researchgate.
Al-Harthi, M. (2023). Corpus-based comparison of lexical complexity in L1 and L2 postgraduate academic writing. International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 12(3), 213–225. https://doi.org/10.55493/5019.v12i3.4852
Amiryousefi, M. (2019). The incorporation of flipped learning into conventional classes to enhance EFL learners’ L2 speaking, L2 listening, and engagement. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 13(2), 147–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2017.1394307
Appel, R., Arias, A., Baker, B., & Loignon, G. (2023). Insights from lexical and syntactic analyses of a French for academic purposes assessment. Assessing Writing, 58, 100789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2023.100789
Biber, D., Gray, B., Staples, S., & Egbert, J. (2020). Investigating grammatical complexity in L2 English writing research: Linguistic description versus predictive measurement. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 46, 100869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2020.100869
Curran, C. A. (2018). Counseling-Learning in Second Languages. Apple River Press.
Daruhadi, G., & Sopiati, P. (2024). Pengumpulan data penelitian. J-Ceki: Jurnal Cendekia Lmiah, 3(5), 5423–5443. https://doi.org/10.56799/jceki.v3i5.5181
Fajri, M. S. A., Kirana, A. W., & Putri, C. I. K. (2020). Lexical Bundles of L1 and L2 English Professional Scholars: A Contrastive Corpus-Driven Study on Applied Linguistics Research Articles. Journal of Language and Education, 6(4), 76–89. https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2020.10719
Gee, J., & Gee, J. P. (2020). Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourses (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203944806
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (2017). Discovery of Grounded Theory : Strategies for Qualitative Research (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203793206
Herdayati, & Syahrial. (2019). Desain penelitian dan teknik pengumpulan data dalam penelitian. Journal Online International, 53(9), 1689–1699. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/syahrial-syahrial-2/publication/336304206_desain_penelitian_dan_teknik_pengumpulan_data_dalam_penelitian/links/5d9ac0ab92851c2f70f2184f/desain-penelitian-dan-teknik-pengumpulan-data-dalam-penelitian
Hunston, S., & Thompson, G. (2020). Evaluation in text: Authorial stance and the construction of discourse. Oxford University Press.
Hyland, K. (2018). English for academic purposes: An advanced resource book. Routledge.
Hyland, K. (2019). Teaching and Researching Writing (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315717203
Jaya, A., Hartono, R., Wahyuni, S., & Yulianto, H. J. (2025a). From silent to supreme: The transformative power of project-based learning on language learners. Multidisciplinary Reviews, 8(8), 2025258. https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2025258
Jaya, A., Hartono, R., Wahyuni, S., & Yulianto, H. J. (2025b). Los efectos de la estrategia de aprendizaje basado en proyectos con actividad física en función del género sobre el rendimiento escolar y la confianza en sí mismos de los estudiantes. Retos: Nuevas Tendencias En Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación, 66, 349–360. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v66.110067
Jenks, C. J., & Lee, J. W. (2020). Native speaker saviorism: A racialized teaching ideology. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2019.1664904
Kang, B., & Lee, S.-H. (2025). Formulaic expressions in Korean academic discourse: A corpus-based combinatoric morphemic analysis. Lingua, 318, 103912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103912
Khamkhien, A. (2025). The art of referencing: Patterns of citation and authorial stance in academic texts written by Thai students and professional writers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 74, 101470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2024.101470
Khanh, C. G. (2021). The Effect of ICT on Learners’ Speaking Skills Development. International Journal of TESOL & Education, 1(1), 22–29.
Kim, Y. L., Crawford, W. J., & McDonough, K. (2025). The role of communicative purpose in describing and interpreting lexico-grammatical variation in L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 67, 101176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2025.101176
Lesiana, N., Mulyadi, Aswadi Jaya, & Pratiwi, E. (2023). Classroom Interaction in Communicative Language Teaching of Secondary School. Esteem Journal of English Education Study Programme, 7(1), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.31851/esteem.v7i1.12661
Li, X., Jiang, F. (Kevin), & Ma, J. (2023). A cross-sectional analysis of negation used in thesis writing by L1 and L2 PhD students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 64, 101264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2023.101264
Li, Y., & Lei, H. (2025). Lexical bundles in L1 and L2 english academic writing: Convergent and divergent usage. SAGE Open, 15(2), 21582440251333850. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251333850
Liu, Y., & Li, T. (2024). Comparing the syntactic complexity of plain language summaries and abstracts: A case study of marine science academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 68, 101350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2024.101350
Mauliddiyah, N. L. (2021). Metode Pengumpulan Data dan Instrumen Penelitian [UIN Alauddin Makassar]. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/svu73
Nasseri, M., & Thompson, P. (2021). Lexical density and diversity in dissertation abstracts: Revisiting English L1 vs. L2 text differences. Assessing Writing, 47, 100511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2020.100511
Neuman, W. L. (2019). Social research methods: Qualitative and Quantitative approaches. In Pearson (Seventh Ed). Pearson New International Edition. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Social-Research-Methods-Quantitative/dp/0205786839/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461496914&sr=1-5&keywords=social+research+methods+qualitative+and+quantitative+approaches
Oshima, A. (2019). Writing Academic English (4th ed.). Pearson Education.
Patton, M. . (2020). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Revniuk, V., & Bátyi, S. (2023). The Relationship Between Bilingual Language Control and Language Dominance: An Empirical Study of Visual Language Perception. East European Journal of Psycholinguistics, 10(2), 144–162. https://doi.org/10.29038/EEJPL.2023.10.2.REV
Seo, N., & Oh, S.-Y. (2024). Development of clausal and phrasal complexity in L2 writing: A case of argumentative essays of Korean college students. English for Specific Purposes, 73, 46–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2023.09.003
Septianingtias, V., Wahya, Nur, T., & Ariyani, F. (2024). Lexical variation in the Lampung language, Indonesia. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 11(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2309740
Sherine, A., Seshagiri, A. V. S., & Sastry, M. M. (2020). Impact of whatsapp interaction on improving L2 speaking skills. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 15(3), 250–259. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v15i03.11534
Su, H., & Lu, X. (2022). Assessing pragmatic performance in advanced L2 academic writing through the lens of local grammars: A case study of ‘exemplification.’ Assessing Writing, 54, 100668. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2022.100668
Susanto, D., Risnita, & Jailani, M. S. (2023). Teknik Pemeriksaan Keabsahan Data Dalam Penelitian Ilmiah. Jurnal QOSIM Jurnal Pendidikan Sosial & Humaniora, 1(1), 53–61. https://doi.org/10.61104/jq.v1i1.60
Triki, N. (2021). Exemplification in research articles: Structural, semantic and metadiscursive properties across disciplines. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 54, 101039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2021.101039
Vandermeulen, N., Lindgren, E., Waldmann, C., & Levlin, M. (2024). Getting a grip on the writing process: (Effective) approaches to write argumentative and narrative texts in L1 and L2. Journal of Second Language Writing, 65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2024.101113
Yunjung (Yunie), K. (2025). A corpus analysis of prepositional phrase-lexical bundles in academic writing: L2 writers from Indo-European and Non-Indo-European languages. Applied Corpus Linguistics, 5(2), 100128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acorp.2025.100128
Yusuf, F., & Ali, A. (2025). Unveiling the Role of Grammar Mastery: How Sentence Structure, Verb Usage, and Subject-Verb Agreement Shape Tenses Proficiency in English Learning. Panyonara : Journal of English Education, 7(1), 103–123. https://doi.org/10.19105/panyonara.v7i1.16735
Zhang, H., Xu, X., Lei, V. N. L., Hong, W. C. H., & Jie, W. (2025). Academic writing challenges and supports for early-stage Chinese postgraduates: A mixed-methods study on teaching-research integration, supervisor engagement, and self-efficacy. PLoS ONE, 20(2 February). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0317470
Zhang, X., & Yang, X. (2025). Verbal diversity within constructions as a predictor of L2 writing proficiency. Journal of Second Language Writing, 68, 101205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2025.101205
Zhang, Y., & Cui, J. (2023). The relationship between syntactic complexity and rhetorical stages in L2 learners’ texts: A comparative analysis. English for Specific Purposes, 72, 51–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2023.08.003
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Apriyanti Hasibuan, Hanifah Oktarina
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
In order to assure the highest standards for published articles, a peer review policy is applied. In pursue of the compliance with academic standards, all parties involved in the publishing process (the authors, the editors and the editorial board and the reviewers) agree to meet the responsibilities stated below in accordance to the Journal publication ethics and malpractice statement.
Duties of Authors:
- The author(s) warrant that the submitted article is an original work, which has not been previously published, and that they have obtained an agreement from any co-author(s) prior to the manuscript’s submission;
- The author(s) should not submit articles describing essentially the same research to more than one journal;
- The authors(s) make certain that the manuscript meets the terms of the Manuscript Submission Guideline regarding appropriate academic citation and that no copyright infringement occurs;
- The authors(s) should inform the editors about any conflict of interests and report any errors they subsequently, discover in their manuscript.
Duties of Editors and the Editorial Board:
- The editors, together with the editorial board, are responsible for deciding upon the publication or rejection of the submitted manuscripts based only on their originality, significance, and relevance to the domains of the journal;
- The editors evaluate the manuscripts compliance with academic criteria, the domains of the journal and the guidelines;
- The editors must at all times respect the confidentiality of any information pertaining to the submitted manuscripts;
- The editors assign the review of each manuscript to two reviewers chosen according to their domains of expertise. The editors must take into account any conflict of interest reported by the authors and the reviewers.
- The editors must ensure that the comments and recommendations of the reviewers are sent to the author(s) in due time and that the manuscripts are returned to the editors, who take the final decision to publish them or not.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
