Syntactic Complexity in the Ghanaian Context: A Review of Literature and Implications for Future Research

Abstract

Syntactic complexity is widely recognised as a key indicator of writing proficiency in first and second language contexts, yet research on this construct within the Ghanaian educational setting remains critically underdeveloped. This literature review traces the theoretical and methodological evolution of syntactic complexity measurement, synthesises empirical research from Ghana alongside international studies, identifies gaps in the Ghanaian literature, and proposes directions for future research. A structured narrative review was conducted across six academic databases, yielding 49 sources, including four Ghanaian studies and international research spanning the 1960s to 2024. Internationally, length-based metrics consistently correlate with writing proficiency; subordination measures yield inconsistent results; and recent research prioritises phrasal over clausal complexity in advanced academic writing. The four Ghanaian studies, though methodologically sophisticated, reveal that syntactic complexity in Ghanaian English increases over time, challenging simplification theories for postcolonial varieties. Critical gaps persist, including limited genre diversity, a lack of cross-linguistic perspectives, few longitudinal designs, and underdeveloped corpora. Future research should investigate L1 transfer from Ghanaian languages, expand into diverse genres, and employ longitudinal designs. These findings have direct implications for EFL writing pedagogy in Ghanaian tertiary institutions, where instruction and assessment should better reflect evidence on syntactic features that characterise academic writing quality.