L1–L2 asymmetry in animacy effects in the processing of Japanese relative clause
-
Sanako Mitsugi
and
Yasuhiro Shirai
Abstract
Using self-paced reading, this study investigated the role of head animacy in the processing of Japanese relative clauses (RCs). Second language (L2) learners whose first languages (L1) are English and Korean, and Japanese native speakers participated. The results showed that for native speakers, inanimate heads diminished the processing difficulty associated with object RCs. However, head animacy did not have an effect on L2 processing. The Korean group showed the subject-object asymmetry but no effect of head animacy. The English group did not demonstrate the effect of RC type or head animacy. The overall pattern of these results suggests that L2 learners of Japanese are not guided by syntactic and lexical-semantic information in the same way as Japanese native speakers. These findings are interpreted within the constraint-satisfaction models (MacDonald et al., 1994) and are further discussed in the light of the research concerning the transfer of L1 processing routines.
© 2017 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Contents
- L1–L2 asymmetry in animacy effects in the processing of Japanese relative clause
- Relative tense in relative clauses
- The verb doubling construction in Japanese
- Comments on verb doubling construction in Japanese
- Aspects of scientific Japanese revealed by JECPRESE
- Book Reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Contents
- L1–L2 asymmetry in animacy effects in the processing of Japanese relative clause
- Relative tense in relative clauses
- The verb doubling construction in Japanese
- Comments on verb doubling construction in Japanese
- Aspects of scientific Japanese revealed by JECPRESE
- Book Reviews
