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This thesis is a generative-based investigation of second language (L2) attrition. L2 attrition research to now has measured the loss of lexical items, morphology, word order, and so on. However, none to my knowledge has examined attrition from within an established theoretical framework such as Chomsky's theory of Government and Binding (GB). In particular, this study considers the loss of reflexive binding in proficient L2 English speakers. Informants are six Japanese university students who spent their junior (third) years abroad in the United States. These six informants consisted of two groups: three who had childhood exposure to English, and three whose first exposure to English in the L2 environment was as adults during their university stay overseas. In order to observe attrition which might occur shortly after exposure to the L2 ceased, an important aspect of this research was to begin data collection as soon as possible after the informants' returns to Japan from studying abroad. Data collections occurred at various intervals for each informant and lasted up to 16 months. Data for this longitudinal study were collected via two tests: a truth value judgment test and a grammaticality judgement test. This study is unique in that it uses generative-based SLA research tools and methods to investigate L2 attrition. Furthermore, the truth value judgment test and the grammaticality judgment test provide results which support the hypothesis that principles of reflexive binding attrite in a manner not inconsistent with UG constraints. The general pattern exhibited by all six test subjects initially shows varying but high levels of knowledge of reflexive binding. Over the course of their data collection periods, the informants' knowledge of reflexive binding in English becomes unstable in the face of zero exposure to the target language. In particular, reflexives in finite subordinate clauses tend to remain bound grammatically to local antecedents to a greater degree than in nonfinite clauses. Reflexive binding in tensed clauses thus appears more resistant to attrition. Age at first exposure to the L2 was also considered as a factor in determining ultimate level of attrition. Evidence was found of a sensitive period up to age eight for the successful acquisition and long-term maintenance of knowledge of the principles of reflexive binding, even upon loss of exposure to the L2.

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Traditional studies in syntactic complexity consider increased clausal complexity to be characteristic of development, proficiency and growth in written language production. However, this stereotypical view ignores two important facts. First, complexity differs by register (i.e. daily speech versus formal writing). Second, as the proficiency of writers increases, their complexity in formal writing changes from clausal complexity to phrasal complexity (i.e. lower-proficiency writers have more subordinate clauses whereas higher-proficiency writers tend to have more noun phrases). Therefore, in this study, I argue for the need to consider not just clausal complexity but also phrasal complexity measures when assessing development and performance in second language (L2) writing production. In addition, this study addresses two important gaps that remain understudied in the literature of syntactic complexity. First, there are few studies that analyze changes in syntactic complexity of first-language (L1) Spanish English Language Learners (ELL)'s writing. A few studies have analyzed writers' L1 background as an influential factor in complexity, but an important language such as Spanish has been ignored. Additionally, most studies focus on general academic writing (i.e. argumentative essays), but there are no studies that investigate syntactic complexity in other registers and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) areas. For instance, there are no studies in syntactic complexity that focus on civil engineering, which is an area where writing plays a vital role. Hence, this study intends to fill these gaps by looking at the syntactic complexity of civil engineering student writing, including Spanish L1 writers. The present study investigated syntactic complexity in the writing of English-as- their-first-language (EL1) and English-language-learner (ELL) civil engineering student writing. Taking a contrastive corpus-based approach, I used the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (L2SCA) (Lu, 2010) to analyze measures of clausal and phrasal complexity. In particular, I used two measures of clausal complexity (clauses per sentence and dependent clauses per clause) and three measures of phrasal complexity (mean length of clause, coordinate phrases per clause, and complex nominals per clause). The analysis was focused on a total of 74 samples of student writing: 30 ELL low-level texts, 14 ELL high-level texts, and 30 EL1 texts. The quantitative analysis consisted of non-parametric statistical tests applied between groups (i.e. ELL-low vs ELL-high, ELL-low vs EL1, and ELL-high vs EL1). The statistical analysis indicated that the writing of both ELL student groups was significantly more clausally complex than the writing of EL1 students on both clausal complexity measures. No differences were found in phrasal complexity, and no developmental trends were found in relation to levels of proficiency among writers. All groups exhibited high levels of internal diversity and lack of within-group consistency. The pedagogical implications of this study include familiarizing ELL students with the characteristics of professional engineering writing as a way to break the stereotype that more clausally complex sentences entail more advanced and more proficient writing. ESP instructors should try to identify characteristics of the syntactic complexity particular to their field so that they can provide appropriate feedback to their students. Moreover, ESP programs with Spanish-speaking students should pay attention to clausal complexity as potential linguistic transfer from students' L1 into the writing production in the L2.