Second language gap processing of Japanese scrambling under a Simpler Syntax account
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Masahiro Hara
Abstract
This self-paced reading study provides evidence of second language (L2) learners’ ability to perform syntactic gap processing while reading sentences with scrambling in Japanese. Due to the verb-finality of Japanese, syntactic gap processing occurs before the verb’s argument structure information becomes available. The two scrambling conditions included in the study were constructed by dislocating the direct object of a double object construction either a short distance (short scrambling) or farther away (long scrambling) from its canonical pre-verbal position. Both conditions involve syntactic gap processing at the pre-verbal position; however, there is greater difficulty narrowing syntactic predictions at the pre-verbal position in the long than in the short scrambling condition (Nakatani & Gibson, 2008). The study included advanced Korean and Chinese learners and native speakers of Japanese (24 participants per group). The Korean learners showed a reading slowdown at the pre-verbal gap-implicating region in the short scrambling condition but not in the long scrambling condition as the latter apparently overtaxed their cognitive resources. The Chinese learners exhibited no evidence of syntactic gap processing in either scrambling condition. The article proposes a unified account under Simpler Syntax (Culicover & Jackendoff, 2005) of how learners process short- and long-distance scrambling. The account allows for the view that under a high computational demand, learners’ gap processing may result in structurally underspecified but nevertheless legitimate representation of an input string, which is accomplished by making adjustments in the syntax–semantics interface rules and without overreliance on semantic–pragmatic information.
Abstract
This self-paced reading study provides evidence of second language (L2) learners’ ability to perform syntactic gap processing while reading sentences with scrambling in Japanese. Due to the verb-finality of Japanese, syntactic gap processing occurs before the verb’s argument structure information becomes available. The two scrambling conditions included in the study were constructed by dislocating the direct object of a double object construction either a short distance (short scrambling) or farther away (long scrambling) from its canonical pre-verbal position. Both conditions involve syntactic gap processing at the pre-verbal position; however, there is greater difficulty narrowing syntactic predictions at the pre-verbal position in the long than in the short scrambling condition (Nakatani & Gibson, 2008). The study included advanced Korean and Chinese learners and native speakers of Japanese (24 participants per group). The Korean learners showed a reading slowdown at the pre-verbal gap-implicating region in the short scrambling condition but not in the long scrambling condition as the latter apparently overtaxed their cognitive resources. The Chinese learners exhibited no evidence of syntactic gap processing in either scrambling condition. The article proposes a unified account under Simpler Syntax (Culicover & Jackendoff, 2005) of how learners process short- and long-distance scrambling. The account allows for the view that under a high computational demand, learners’ gap processing may result in structurally underspecified but nevertheless legitimate representation of an input string, which is accomplished by making adjustments in the syntax–semantics interface rules and without overreliance on semantic–pragmatic information.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
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Part I. Introduction
- Second language processing and parsing 3
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Part II. Relative clauses and wh -movement
- Relative clause attachment preferences of Turkish L2 speakers of English 27
- Evidence of syntactic constraints in the processing of wh -movement 65
- Constraints on L2 learners’ processing of wh-dependencies 87
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Part III. Gender and number
- The effects of linear distance and working memory on the processing of gender agreement in Spanish 113
- Feature assembly in early stages of L2 acquisition 135
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Part IV. Subjects and objects
- Second language processing in Japanese scrambled sentences 159
- Second language gap processing of Japanese scrambling under a Simpler Syntax account 177
- The processing of subject-object ambiguities by English and Dutch L2 learners of German 207
- Connections between processing, production and placement 231
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Part V. Phonology and lexicon
- The exploitation of fine phonetic detail in the processing of L2 French 259
- Translation ambiguity 281
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Part VI. Prosody and context
- Reading aloud in two languages 297
- Near-nativelike processing of contrastive focus in L2 French 321
- Author index 345
- Subject index 349
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
-
Part I. Introduction
- Second language processing and parsing 3
-
Part II. Relative clauses and wh -movement
- Relative clause attachment preferences of Turkish L2 speakers of English 27
- Evidence of syntactic constraints in the processing of wh -movement 65
- Constraints on L2 learners’ processing of wh-dependencies 87
-
Part III. Gender and number
- The effects of linear distance and working memory on the processing of gender agreement in Spanish 113
- Feature assembly in early stages of L2 acquisition 135
-
Part IV. Subjects and objects
- Second language processing in Japanese scrambled sentences 159
- Second language gap processing of Japanese scrambling under a Simpler Syntax account 177
- The processing of subject-object ambiguities by English and Dutch L2 learners of German 207
- Connections between processing, production and placement 231
-
Part V. Phonology and lexicon
- The exploitation of fine phonetic detail in the processing of L2 French 259
- Translation ambiguity 281
-
Part VI. Prosody and context
- Reading aloud in two languages 297
- Near-nativelike processing of contrastive focus in L2 French 321
- Author index 345
- Subject index 349
