Chapter 7. Animacy hierarchy effects on L2 processing of Differential Object Marking
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Nuria Sagarra
Abstract
Studies on L2 processing of Differential Object Marking (DOM) are scant and mostly focus on the animacy of the object. We investigated the interaction of three understudied factors in L1 and L2 processing of DOM: type of animacy (human vs. non-human animal), gender and number of the object (masculine vs. feminine, plural vs. singular), and morphological salience of the DOM marker (e.g., al bound/less salient vs. a unbound/more salient). Forty-three Spanish monolinguals and 81 English learners of Spanish (39 intermediate, 42 advanced) completed a self-paced reading task with subject relative clauses (RCs) containing DPs with singular and plural human or animal direct object nouns. Results showed that L2 learners’ sensitivity to animacy hierarchy differences is possible in cognitively easy conditions (unbound DOM, masculine gender). These findings inform current L2 representational and processing models, and stress the value of examining multiple factors to fully understand the complexity of DOM.
Abstract
Studies on L2 processing of Differential Object Marking (DOM) are scant and mostly focus on the animacy of the object. We investigated the interaction of three understudied factors in L1 and L2 processing of DOM: type of animacy (human vs. non-human animal), gender and number of the object (masculine vs. feminine, plural vs. singular), and morphological salience of the DOM marker (e.g., al bound/less salient vs. a unbound/more salient). Forty-three Spanish monolinguals and 81 English learners of Spanish (39 intermediate, 42 advanced) completed a self-paced reading task with subject relative clauses (RCs) containing DPs with singular and plural human or animal direct object nouns. Results showed that L2 learners’ sensitivity to animacy hierarchy differences is possible in cognitively easy conditions (unbound DOM, masculine gender). These findings inform current L2 representational and processing models, and stress the value of examining multiple factors to fully understand the complexity of DOM.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Acquisition of symmetrical and asymmetrical Differential Object Marking in Estonian 21
- Chapter 2. Differential Object Marking in the speech of children learning Basque and Spanish 51
- Chapter 3. Differential Object Marking in simultaneous Hungarian-Romanian bilinguals 77
- Chapter 4. The acquisition of Differential Object Marking in Basque as a sociolinguistic variable 105
- Chapter 5. The distribution of Differential Object Marking in L1 and L2 River Plate Spanish 133
- Chapter 6. On the acceptability of the Spanish DOM among Romanian-Spanish bilinguals 161
- Chapter 7. Animacy hierarchy effects on L2 processing of Differential Object Marking 183
- Chapter 8. Verbal lexical frequency and DOM in heritage speakers of Spanish 207
- Chapter 9. The processing of Differential Object Marking by heritage speakers of Spanish 237
- Chapter 10. Comprehension of Differential Object Marking by Hindi heritage speakers 261
- Chapter 11. Differential Object Marking in Romanian as a heritage language 283
- Chapter 12. Over-sensitivity to the animacy constraint on DOM in low proficient Turkish heritage speakers 313
- Chapter 13. Acquisition of Differential Object Marking in Korean 343
- Index 367
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Acquisition of symmetrical and asymmetrical Differential Object Marking in Estonian 21
- Chapter 2. Differential Object Marking in the speech of children learning Basque and Spanish 51
- Chapter 3. Differential Object Marking in simultaneous Hungarian-Romanian bilinguals 77
- Chapter 4. The acquisition of Differential Object Marking in Basque as a sociolinguistic variable 105
- Chapter 5. The distribution of Differential Object Marking in L1 and L2 River Plate Spanish 133
- Chapter 6. On the acceptability of the Spanish DOM among Romanian-Spanish bilinguals 161
- Chapter 7. Animacy hierarchy effects on L2 processing of Differential Object Marking 183
- Chapter 8. Verbal lexical frequency and DOM in heritage speakers of Spanish 207
- Chapter 9. The processing of Differential Object Marking by heritage speakers of Spanish 237
- Chapter 10. Comprehension of Differential Object Marking by Hindi heritage speakers 261
- Chapter 11. Differential Object Marking in Romanian as a heritage language 283
- Chapter 12. Over-sensitivity to the animacy constraint on DOM in low proficient Turkish heritage speakers 313
- Chapter 13. Acquisition of Differential Object Marking in Korean 343
- Index 367
