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This study investigates whether and how high school students with different English abilities differ in the lexical complexity of their English writing. The participants were 106 second-year high school students, who were divided into two topic groups for an argumentative writing assignment in English. Each topic group consisted of students selected from three classes, who were divided into two ability groups (i.e., higher-ability & lower-ability) based on their scores in the National United Achievement Tests (NUAT). The participants’ lexical complexity was measured using a web-based Lexical Complexity Analyzer. The results showed that there was a significant difference between ability groups in some limited complexity indices and this difference varied in a limited way according to topic. In addition, few relationships were found between language ability and values of complexity indices but significant correlations were found among most of the complexity values themselves. The conclusion is that the lexical complexity in high school students’ writings can be different as a function of language ability but this difference is limited to some features only and can be affected by the writing topic. Some recommendations are suggested for further research.
