Generating predictions based on semantic categories in a second language: A case of numeral classifiers in Japanese
-
Sanako Mitsugi
Abstract
This study examined whether native Japanese speakers and second language (L2) speakers of Japanese use information from numeral classifiers to predict possible referents. Using a visual-world eye-tracking paradigm, we asked participants to identify picture objects that take either the same or different numeral classifiers while they listened to Japanese sentences referring to one object. The results showed that native speakers looked to the target predictively more often when the classifier was informative about noun identity than when it was not. L2 learners also showed a facilitative effect of classifiers that was comparable to that of native speakers. In addition, we found that the level of proficiency played a role in the speed of real-time referent resolutions when the participants heard the target nouns in audio input. However, such an effect was not observed during the period when the predictions were generated.
Funding statement: This work was supported by the University of Kansas General Research Fund allocation 2301132-099 (to S.M.).
Acknowledgements
I thank Philip Kroh for his help in experimental preparation and data collection and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper. Any errors are my own.
Appendix 1: A list of word used in the experiment.
| List 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The classifier-uninformative condition | The classifier-informative condition | ||
| Target item | Distractor item | Target item | Distractor item |
| 皿 ‘dish’ | ふとん ‘futon’ | ふとん ‘futon’ | バット ‘bat’ |
| シーディー ‘CD’ | シャツ ‘shirt’ | シャツ ‘shirt’ | 傘 ‘umbrella’ |
| 着物 ‘kimono’ | 手紙 ‘letter’ | 手紙 ‘letter’ | ボトル ‘bottle’ |
| タオル ‘towel’ | 地図 ‘map’ | 地図 ‘map’ | ベルト ‘belt’ |
| バット ‘bat’ | たばこ ‘tobacco’ | たばこ ‘tobacco’ | 皿 ‘dish’ |
| 傘 ‘umbrella’ | 鉛筆 ‘pencil’ | 鉛筆 ‘pencil’ | シーディー ‘CD’ |
| ボトル ‘bottle’ | ネクタイ ‘tie’ | ネクタイ ‘tie’ | 着物 ‘kimono’ |
| ベルト ‘belt’ | バナナ ‘banana’ | バナナ ‘banana’ | タオル ‘towel’ |
References
Adams, K. & N. Conklin. 1973. Toward a theory of natural classification. In C. Corum (ed.), Papers from the 9th annual meeting of Chicago Linguistic Society, 1–10. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.Search in Google Scholar
Allan, K. 1977. Classifiers. Language 53. 284–310.10.1353/lan.1977.0043Search in Google Scholar
Altmann, G. & Y. Kamide. 1999. Incremental interpretation at verbs: Restricting the domain of subsequent reference. Cognition 73. 247–264.10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00059-1Search in Google Scholar
Altmann, G. & Y. Kamide. 2007. The real-time mediation of visual attention by language and world knowledge: Linking anticipatory (and other) eye movements to linguistic processing. Journal of Memory and Language 57. 502–518.10.1016/j.jml.2006.12.004Search in Google Scholar
Barr, D. J., R. Levy, C. Scheepers & H. J. Tily. 2013. Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language 68. 255–278.10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001Search in Google Scholar
Bates, D. M., M. Maechler, B. Bolker & S. Walker (2014). Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version 1.1–4, http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lme4.Search in Google Scholar
Bollen, K. A. 2007. On the origins of latent curve models. In R. Cudeck & R. MacCallum (eds.), Factor analysis at 100, 79–98. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Search in Google Scholar
Croft, W. 1994. Semantic universals in classifier systems. Word 45. 145–171.10.1080/00437956.1994.11435922Search in Google Scholar
Dahan, D., D. Swingley, M. K. Tanenhaus & J. S. Magnuson. 2000. Linguistic gender and spoken-word recognition in French. Journal of Memory and Language 42. 465–480.10.1006/jmla.1999.2688Search in Google Scholar
DeLong, K. A., T. P. Urbach & M. Kutas. 2005. Probabilistic word pre-activation during language comprehension inferred from electrical brain activity. Nature Neuroscience 8. 1117–1121.10.1038/nn1504Search in Google Scholar
Denny, P. 1979. Semantic analysis of selected Japanese classifiers for unit. Linguistics 17. 317–335.10.1515/ling.1979.17.3-4.317Search in Google Scholar
Dowens, M. G., M. Vergara, H. A. Barber & M. Carreiras. 2010. Morphosyntactic processing in late second-language learners. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 22. 1870–1887.10.1162/jocn.2009.21304Search in Google Scholar
Downing, P. (1984). Japanese numeral classifiers: A syntactic, semantic, and functional profile (unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of California, Berkeley.Search in Google Scholar
Dussias, P. E., J. R. Valdés Kroff, R. E. Guzzardo Tamargo & C. Gerfen. 2013. When gender and looking go hand in hand. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 35. 353–387.10.1017/S0272263112000915Search in Google Scholar
Erbaugh, M. S. 2004. Chinese classifiers: Their use and acquisition. In P. Li, L. H. Tan, E. Bates & O. J. L. Tzeng (eds.), Handbook of East Asian Psycholinguistics vol. 1, Chinese. 39–51. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511550751.005Search in Google Scholar
Federmeier, K. D. 2007. Thinking ahead: The role and roots of prediction in language comprehension. Psychophysiology 44. 491–505.10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00531.xSearch in Google Scholar
Foote, R. 2010. Integrated knowledge of agreement in early and late English–Spanish bilinguals. Applied Psycholinguistics 32. 187–220.10.1017/S0142716410000342Search in Google Scholar
Gandour, J., S. H. Petty, R. Dardarananda, S. Dechongkit & S. Mukngoen. 1984. The acquisition of numeral classifiers in Thai. Linguistics 22. 455–479.10.1515/ling.1984.22.4.455Search in Google Scholar
Gao, Y. & B. Malt. 2009. Mental representation and cognitive consequences of Chinese individual classifiers. Language and Cognitive Processes 24. 1124–1179.10.1080/01690960802018323Search in Google Scholar
Grüter, T., C. Lew-Williams & A. Fernald. 2012. Grammatical gender in L2: A production or a real-time processing problem?. Second Language Research 28. 191–215.10.1177/0267658312437990Search in Google Scholar
Grüter, T, H Rohde & A. J. Schafer. 2017. Coreference and discourse coherence in L2: The roles of grammatical aspect and referential form. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 7. 199–229.10.1075/lab.15011.gruSearch in Google Scholar
Guillelmon, D. & F. Grosjean. 2001. The gender marking effect in spoken word recognition: The case of bilinguals. Memory and Cognition 29. 503–511.10.3758/BF03196401Search in Google Scholar
Hansen, L. & Y. L. Chen. 2001. What counts in the acquisition and attrition of numeral classifiers. JALT Journal 23. 83–100.10.37546/JALTJJ23.1-5Search in Google Scholar
Hatasa, Y., K. Hatasa & S Makino. 2011a. Nakama 1: Intoroductory Japanese Communication, Culture, Context. 2nd edn. Boston, MA: Heinle.Search in Google Scholar
Hatasa, Y., K. Hatasa & S Makino. 2011b. Nakama 2: Intermediate Japanese Communication, Culture, Context. 2nd edn. Boston, MA: Heinle.Search in Google Scholar
Hopp, H. 2009. The syntax–Discourse interface in near-native L2 acquisition: Off-line and on-line performance. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 12. 463–483.10.1017/S1366728909990253Search in Google Scholar
Hopp, H. 2010. Ultimate attainment in L2 inflectional morphology: Performance similarities between non-native and native speakers. Lingua 120. 901–931.10.1016/j.lingua.2009.06.004Search in Google Scholar
Huettig, F., J. Chen, M. Bowerman & A. Majid. 2010. Do language-specific categories shape conceptual processing? Mandarin classifier distinctions influence eye gaze behavior, but only during linguistic processing. Journal of Cognition and Culture 10. 39–58.10.1163/156853710X497167Search in Google Scholar
Huettig, F. & J. McQueen. 2007. The tug of war between phonological, semantic and shape information in language-mediated visual search. Journal of Memory and Language 57. 460–482.10.1016/j.jml.2007.02.001Search in Google Scholar
Jackson, C. N. & P. E. Dussias. 2009. Cross-linguistic differences and their impact on L2 sentence processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 12. 65–82.10.1017/S1366728908003908Search in Google Scholar
Kaan, E. 2014. Predictive sentence processing in L2 and L1: What is different?. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 4. 257–282.10.1075/lab.4.2.05kaaSearch in Google Scholar
Keating, G. D. 2009. Sensitivity to violations of gender agreement in native and nonnative Spanish: An eye-movement investigation. Language Learning 59. 503–535.10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00516.xSearch in Google Scholar
Kimball, J. 1975. Predictive analysis and over-the-top parsing. In J. Kimball (ed.), Syntax and semantics vol. 4, 155–179. New York: Academic Press.10.1163/9789004368828_007Search in Google Scholar
Klein, N., G. Carlson, R. Li, F. Jaeger & M. Tanenhaus. 2012. Classifying and massifying incrementally in Chinese language comprehension. In D. Massa (ed.), Count and mass across languages, 261–282. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654277.003.0014Search in Google Scholar
Kondo-Brown, K. 2005. Differences in language skills: Heritage language learner subgroups and foreign language learners. The Modern Language Journal 89. 563–581.10.1111/j.1540-4781.2005.00330.xSearch in Google Scholar
Kuperberg, G. & F. Jaeger. 2015. What do we mean by prediction in language comprehension?. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience 31. 32–59.10.1080/23273798.2015.1102299Search in Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. 1987. Woman, fire, dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: Chicago University Press.10.7208/chicago/9780226471013.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Lau, E. & T. Grüter. 2015. Real-time processing of classifier information by L2 speakers of Chinese. In E. Grillo & K. Jepson (eds.), Proceedings of the 39th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, 311–323. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Search in Google Scholar
Lau, E., C. Stroud, S. Plesch & C. Phillips. 2006. The role of structural prediction in rapid syntactic analysis. Brain and Language 98. 74–88.10.1016/j.bandl.2006.02.003Search in Google Scholar
Lew-Williams, Casey & Anne Fernald. 2007. Young children learning Spanish make rapid use of grammatical gender in spoken word recognition. Psychological Science 18. 193–198.10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01871.xSearch in Google Scholar
Lew-Williams, Casey & Anne Fernald. 2009. Fluency in using morphosyntactic cues to establish reference: How do native and non-native speakers differ?. In J. Chandlee, M. Franchini, S. Lord & G-M. Rheiner (eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, 290–301. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Search in Google Scholar
MacDonald, M. C., N. J. Pearlmutter & M. S. Seidenberg. 1994. The lexical nature of syntactic ambiguity resolution. Psychological Review 101. 676–703.10.1037/0033-295X.101.4.676Search in Google Scholar
Marslen-Wilson, W. D. 1973. Linguistic structure and speech shadowing at very short latencies. Nature 244. 522–523.10.1038/244522a0Search in Google Scholar
Martin, C. D., G. Thierry, J. R. Kuipers, B. Boutonnet, A. Foucart & A. Costa. 2013. Bilinguals reading in their second language do not predict upcoming words as native readers do. Journal of Memory and Language 69. 574–588.10.1016/j.jml.2013.08.001Search in Google Scholar
Matin, E., K. C. Shao & K. R. Boff. 1993. Saccadic overhead: Information-processing time with and without saccades. Perception & Psychophysics 53. 372–380.10.3758/BF03206780Search in Google Scholar
Matsumoto, Y. 1985. Acquisition of some Japanese numeral classifiers: The search for convention. Papers and Reports in Child Language Development 24. 79–86.Search in Google Scholar
McGloin, N., M. Endo-Hudson, F. Nazikian & T. Kakegawa. 2013. Modern Japanese Grammar: A Practical Guide. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203641279Search in Google Scholar
Mirman, D., J. A. Dixon & J. S. Magnuson. 2008. Statistical and computational models of the visual world paradigm: Growth curves and individual differences. Journal of Memory and Language 59. 475–494.10.1016/j.jml.2007.11.006Search in Google Scholar
Mitsugi, S. 2016. Proficiency influences orthographic activations during L2 spoken-word recognition. International Journal of Bilingualism Advance online publication. Doi 10.1177/1367006916666388Search in Google Scholar
Naka, M. 1999. The acquisition of Japanese numerical classifiers by 2–4-year-old children: The role of caretakers’ linguistic inputs. Japanese Psychological Research 41. 70–78.10.1111/1468-5884.00105Search in Google Scholar
Saalbach, H. & M. Imai. 2007. The scope of linguistic influence: Does a classifier system alter object concepts?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 136. 485–501.10.1037/0096-3445.136.3.485Search in Google Scholar
Saalbach, H. & M. Imai. 2012. The relation between linguistic categories and cognition: The case of numeral classifiers, Language and Cognitive Processes 27. 381–428.10.1080/01690965.2010.546585Search in Google Scholar
Tanenhaus, M. K. 2007. Eye movements and spoken language processing. In G. Gaskell (ed.), Oxford handbook of psycholinguistics, 443–469. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1016/B978-008044980-7/50022-7Search in Google Scholar
Tanenhaus, M. K., M. J. Spivey-Knowlton, K. M. Eberhard & J. C. Sedivy. 1995. Integration of visual and linguistic information in spoken language comprehension. Science 268. 1632–1634.10.1126/science.7777863Search in Google Scholar
Tanenhaus, M. K. & J. C. Trueswell. 1994. Toward a lexicalist framework of constraint-based syntactic ambiguity resolution. In C. Clifton, L. Frazier & K. Ryner (eds.), Perspectives in Sentence Processing, 155–180. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Search in Google Scholar
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Effect of iconic gestures on second language vocabulary retention in a naturalistic setting
- The role of individual differences in younger vs. older primary school learners of English in Denmark
- Generating predictions based on semantic categories in a second language: A case of numeral classifiers in Japanese
- Analyzing morphology-related strategies in Spanish L2 lexical inferencing: how do suffixes matter?
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Effect of iconic gestures on second language vocabulary retention in a naturalistic setting
- The role of individual differences in younger vs. older primary school learners of English in Denmark
- Generating predictions based on semantic categories in a second language: A case of numeral classifiers in Japanese
- Analyzing morphology-related strategies in Spanish L2 lexical inferencing: how do suffixes matter?
