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Evidence of syntactic constraints in the processing of wh -movement

A study of Najdi Arabic learners of English
  • Saad Aldwayan , Robert Fiorentino and Alison Gabriele
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Research in Second Language Processing and Parsing
This chapter is in the book Research in Second Language Processing and Parsing

Abstract

Recent proposals have suggested that second language learners, unlike native speakers, are ‘shallow processors’ in that they do not make use of abstract syntactic knowledge in parsing, relying instead on lexical semantic knowledge and pragmatic notions such as plausibility (Clahsen & Felser, 2006a,b). The present study tested whether Najdi Arabic learners of English process whdependencies incrementally and whether they use knowledge of syntactic constraints in the processing of wh-movement. A group of advanced L2 learners (n = 40) as well as a control group of English native speakers (n = 40) participated in a self-paced reading study, which was based on Stowe (1986). The results of two experiments suggest that non-native processing is, like native processing, incremental and guided by syntactic constraints.

Abstract

Recent proposals have suggested that second language learners, unlike native speakers, are ‘shallow processors’ in that they do not make use of abstract syntactic knowledge in parsing, relying instead on lexical semantic knowledge and pragmatic notions such as plausibility (Clahsen & Felser, 2006a,b). The present study tested whether Najdi Arabic learners of English process whdependencies incrementally and whether they use knowledge of syntactic constraints in the processing of wh-movement. A group of advanced L2 learners (n = 40) as well as a control group of English native speakers (n = 40) participated in a self-paced reading study, which was based on Stowe (1986). The results of two experiments suggest that non-native processing is, like native processing, incremental and guided by syntactic constraints.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Part I. Introduction
  5. Second language processing and parsing 3
  6. Part II. Relative clauses and wh -movement
  7. Relative clause attachment preferences of Turkish L2 speakers of English 27
  8. Evidence of syntactic constraints in the processing of wh -movement 65
  9. Constraints on L2 learners’ processing of wh-dependencies 87
  10. Part III. Gender and number
  11. The effects of linear distance and working memory on the processing of gender agreement in Spanish 113
  12. Feature assembly in early stages of L2 acquisition 135
  13. Part IV. Subjects and objects
  14. Second language processing in Japanese scrambled sentences 159
  15. Second language gap processing of Japanese scrambling under a Simpler Syntax account 177
  16. The processing of subject-object ambiguities by English and Dutch L2 learners of German 207
  17. Connections between processing, production and placement 231
  18. Part V. Phonology and lexicon
  19. The exploitation of fine phonetic detail in the processing of L2 French 259
  20. Translation ambiguity 281
  21. Part VI. Prosody and context
  22. Reading aloud in two languages 297
  23. Near-nativelike processing of contrastive focus in L2 French 321
  24. Author index 345
  25. Subject index 349
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.53.03ald

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Part I. Introduction
  5. Second language processing and parsing 3
  6. Part II. Relative clauses and wh -movement
  7. Relative clause attachment preferences of Turkish L2 speakers of English 27
  8. Evidence of syntactic constraints in the processing of wh -movement 65
  9. Constraints on L2 learners’ processing of wh-dependencies 87
  10. Part III. Gender and number
  11. The effects of linear distance and working memory on the processing of gender agreement in Spanish 113
  12. Feature assembly in early stages of L2 acquisition 135
  13. Part IV. Subjects and objects
  14. Second language processing in Japanese scrambled sentences 159
  15. Second language gap processing of Japanese scrambling under a Simpler Syntax account 177
  16. The processing of subject-object ambiguities by English and Dutch L2 learners of German 207
  17. Connections between processing, production and placement 231
  18. Part V. Phonology and lexicon
  19. The exploitation of fine phonetic detail in the processing of L2 French 259
  20. Translation ambiguity 281
  21. Part VI. Prosody and context
  22. Reading aloud in two languages 297
  23. Near-nativelike processing of contrastive focus in L2 French 321
  24. Author index 345
  25. Subject index 349
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