The Effect of Thinness of Boundaries and Tolerance of Ambiguity on L2 Written Production

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The present paper investigates the influence of thinness of mental boundaries on second language (L2) written production. The personality dimension of thinness of boundaries, which reflects "the degree of separateness (thick boundaries) versus connection (thin boundaries) between a broad range of mental functions, processes, and entities" (Hartmann, Rosen, & Rand, 1998, p. 32), was assumed to be associated with tolerance of ambiguity. Data were collected using the Boundary Questionnaire and L2 Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale as well as an argumentative essay task for the elicitation of L2 samples. Participants comprised 80 students at a Japanese university with majors other than English. Statistical analysis revealed that random cognitive processing style, preference for less structured organization, and openness to new and foreign objects were correlated with tolerance of ambiguity in L2 learning. In addition, openness to new and foreign objects was found to positively influence L2 fluency and L2 syntactic complexity. Respondents' preference for mixing thoughts and feelings was a negative predictor of fluency, while emotional sensitivity negatively affected syntactic complexity. These findings suggest that boundary structure impacts psycholinguistic processing during L2 production.
2010-10-25