NUMBER ATTRACTION EFFECTS IN NEAR-NATIVE SPANISH SENTENCE COMPREHENSION

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Jegerski
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Mexican Spanish ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Number Agreement ◽  
Fundamental Interest ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Attraction Effects ◽  
Verb Number

Grammatical agreement phenomena such as verbal number have long been of fundamental interest in the study of second language (L2) acquisition. Previous research from the perspective of sentence processing has documented nativelike behavior among nonnative participants but has also relied almost exclusively on grammar violation paradigms. The present investigation examined the online comprehension of subject-verb number agreement by native and nonnative speakers of Mexican Spanish using the more subtle agreement attraction paradigm, with stimuli grammatical in both conditions, in addition to a nonlocal grammaticality paradigm. The results of a self-paced reading experiment confirmed that nonnatives can acquire nativelike online sensitivity to verbal number agreement, even without grammar errors, and that such sensitivity develops only at very high levels of L2 proficiency.

Japanese EFL learners’ sentence processing of conceptual plurality: An analysis focusing on reciprocal verbs

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
YU TAMURA ◽  
JUNYA FUKUTA ◽  
YOSHITO NISHIMURA ◽  
YUI HARADA ◽  
KAZUHISA HARA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
First Language ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Japanese Learners

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to investigate how Japanese learners of English as a foreign language, whose first language does not have obligatory morphological number marking, process conceptual plurality. The targeted structure was reciprocal verbs, which require conceptual plurality to interpret their meanings correctly. The results of a sentence completion task confirmed that participants could use reciprocal verbs reciprocally in English. In a self-paced reading experiment, participants read sentences with reciprocal verbs and those with optionally transitive verbs (e.g., while the king and the queen kissed/left the baby read the book in the bed). There was no reading time delay for reciprocal verbs but a delay for optionally transitive verbs. Therefore, the participants succeeded in processing second language conceptual plurality in the online sentence comprehension task.

scholarly journals Quantifying individual differences in native and nonnative sentence processing

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Ian Cunnings ◽  
Hiroki Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Preliminary Examination ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Nonnative Language ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Research in sentence processing has increasingly examined the role of individual differences in language comprehension. In work on native and nonnative sentence processing, examining individual differences can contribute crucial insight into theoretical debates about the extent to which nativelike processing is possible in a nonnative language. Despite this increased interest in individual differences, whether commonly used psycholinguistic tasks can reliably measure individual differences between participants has not been systematically examined. As a preliminary examination of this issue in nonnative processing, we report a self-paced reading experiment on garden-path sentences in native and nonnative comprehension. At the group level we replicated previously observed findings in native and nonnative speakers. However, while we found that our self-paced reading experiment was a reliable way of assessing individual differences in overall reading speed and comprehension accuracy, it did not consistently measure individual differences in the size of garden-path effects in our sample (N = 64 native and 64 nonnative participants, and 24 experimental items). These results suggest that before individual differences in sentence processing can be meaningfully assessed, the question of whether commonly used tasks can consistently measure individual differences requires systematic examination.

The timing of lexical and syntactic processes in second language sentence comprehension

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 1253-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
HOLGER HOPP
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Complex Object ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Processing Differences

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates how lexical processing difficulty affects second language (L2) syntactic processing. In a self-paced reading experiment with 36 monolingual and 62 first language German speakers of English, we test how differences in lexical frequency moderate structural processing differences between subject and object clefts. For the L2 group, the results show linear relations between verb frequency and the location of the reading difficulty resulting from the structurally more complex object clefts. Native speakers evince comparable effects only in lower word frequency ranges. The findings indicate that greater demands on lexical processing may cause non-native-like syntactic processing in that they attenuate and delay effects of structure building in L2 sentence processing. We discuss implications for current models of L2 sentence processing.

scholarly journals Semantic Attraction in Sentence Comprehension

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Laurinavichyute ◽  
Titus von der Malsburg
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Semantic Similarity ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Single Trial ◽  
Computational Simulations ◽  
Content Addressable Memory ◽  
Attraction Effects ◽  
Linguistic Phenomenon

Agreement attraction is the surprising but well-documented, cross-linguistic phenomenon where a verb occasionally agrees not with its subject, as required by grammar, but instead with an unrelated noun that happens to match the verb’s relevant morphosyntactic features (‘The key to the cabinets were ...’). Despite the clear violation of grammatical rules, comprehenders often accept these sentences as grammatically correct. Contenders for explaining agreement attraction fall into two broad classes: Purely morphosyntactic models specifically designed to explain agreement attraction, and more general sentence processing models, such as the Lewis and Vasishth model (2005), which explain attraction as a consequence of how linguistic structure is stored and accessed in content-addressable memory. In the present research we disambiguate between these two classes by testing a surprising prediction made by the general sentence processing models but not the morphosyntactic models, namely that attraction should not be limited to morphosyntax butthat semantic features of unrelated nouns can equally induce attraction. We conducted three high-powered online single-trial experiments in English in which participants had to indicate whether a verb was an acceptable sentence continuation (N1 = 1, 072, N2 = 1, 426, and N3 = 2, 454). All three showed strong semantically induced attraction effects closely mirroring agreement attraction effects. These results combined with detailed computational simulations using the Lewis and Vasishth model favor general sentence processing models over purely morphosyntactic explanations of attraction. Our results also align with recent experimental evidence for semantic similarity-based interference (Cunnings and Sturt, 2018).

Structural priming during sentence comprehension in Chinese–English bilinguals

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 657-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUFEN HSIEH
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Translation Equivalent ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Reading Chinese ◽  
Processing Difficulty

ABSTRACTCross-linguistic priming in comprehension is understudied, and it remains unclear whether bilinguals have shared abstract syntactic representations during sentence comprehension. This article reports a self-paced reading experiment investigating the influence of Chinese passive relative clauses on the interpretation of English sentences that are temporarily ambiguous between an active main clause and a passive reduced relative (dispreferred) structure. The results showed that reading Chinese passive relative primes reduced processing difficulty in English targets at the dispreferred disambiguation. Chinese-to-English priming in comprehension occurred without lexical and word-order equivalence between primes and targets. In addition, translation-equivalent verbs did not boost cross-linguistic structural priming. The findings support an account under which bilingual sentence processing involves abstract, unordered syntactic representations that are integrated between languages.

When Hearing Does Not Mean Understanding: On the Neural Processing of Syntactically Complex Sentences by Listeners With Hearing Loss

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Margreet Vogelzang ◽  
Christiane M. Thiel ◽  
Stephanie Rosemann ◽  
Jochem W. Rieger ◽  
Esther Ruigendijk
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Sentence Complexity ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
And Task

Purpose Adults with mild-to-moderate age-related hearing loss typically exhibit issues with speech understanding, but their processing of syntactically complex sentences is not well understood. We test the hypothesis that listeners with hearing loss' difficulties with comprehension and processing of syntactically complex sentences are due to the processing of degraded input interfering with the successful processing of complex sentences. Method We performed a neuroimaging study with a sentence comprehension task, varying sentence complexity (through subject–object order and verb–arguments order) and cognitive demands (presence or absence of a secondary task) within subjects. Groups of older subjects with hearing loss ( n = 20) and age-matched normal-hearing controls ( n = 20) were tested. Results The comprehension data show effects of syntactic complexity and hearing ability, with normal-hearing controls outperforming listeners with hearing loss, seemingly more so on syntactically complex sentences. The secondary task did not influence off-line comprehension. The imaging data show effects of group, sentence complexity, and task, with listeners with hearing loss showing decreased activation in typical speech processing areas, such as the inferior frontal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus. No interactions between group, sentence complexity, and task were found in the neuroimaging data. Conclusions The results suggest that listeners with hearing loss process speech differently from their normal-hearing peers, possibly due to the increased demands of processing degraded auditory input. Increased cognitive demands by means of a secondary visual shape processing task influence neural sentence processing, but no evidence was found that it does so in a different way for listeners with hearing loss and normal-hearing listeners.

scholarly journals Reanalysis processes in non-native sentence comprehension

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Hiroki Fujita ◽  
Ian Cunnings
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Memory Trace ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Subordinate Clause

Abstract We report two offline and two eye-movement experiments examining non-native (L2) sentence processing during and after reanalysis of temporarily ambiguous sentences like “While Mary dressed the baby laughed happily”. Such sentences cause reanalysis at the main clause verb (“laughed”), as the temporarily ambiguous noun phrase (“the baby”) may initially be misanalysed as the direct object of the subordinate clause verb (“dressed”). The offline experiments revealed that L2ers have difficulty reanalysing temporarily ambiguous sentences with a greater persistence of the initially assigned misinterpretation than native (L1) speakers. In the eye-movement experiments, we found that L2ers complete reanalysis similarly to L1ers but fail to fully erase the memory trace of the initially assigned interpretation. Our results suggested that the source of L2 reanalysis difficulty is a failure to erase the initially assigned misinterpretation from memory rather than a failure to conduct syntactic reanalysis.

Sentence comprehension in heritage language: Isomorphism, word order, and language transfer

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832199790
Author(s):  
Anna Chrabaszcz ◽  
Elena Onischik ◽  
Olga Dragoy
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Language Transfer ◽  
Processing Strategy ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Linguistic Transfer

This study examines the role of cross-linguistic transfer versus general processing strategy in two groups of heritage speakers ( n = 28 per group) with the same heritage language – Russian – and typologically different dominant languages: English and Estonian. A group of homeland Russian speakers ( n = 36) is tested to provide baseline comparison. Within the framework of the Competition model (MacWhinney, 2012), cross-linguistic transfer is defined as reliance on the processing cue prevalent in the heritage speaker’s dominant language (e.g. word order in English) for comprehension of heritage language. In accordance with the Isomorphic Mapping Hypothesis (O’Grady and Lee, 2005), the general processing strategy is defined in terms of isomorphism as a linear alignment between the order of the sentence constituents and the temporal sequence of events. Participants were asked to match pictures on the computer screen with auditorily presented sentences. Sentences included locative or instrumental constructions, in which two cues – word order (basic vs. inverted) and isomorphism mapping (isomorphic vs. nonisomorphic) – were fully crossed. The results revealed that (1) Russian native speakers are sensitive to isomorphism in sentence processing; (2) English-dominant heritage speakers experience dominant language transfer, as evidenced by their reliance primarily on the word order cue; (3) Estonian-dominant heritage speakers do not show significant effects of isomorphism or word order but experience significant processing costs in all conditions.

Cognitive and Physiological Substrates of Impaired Sentence Processing in Parkinson's Disease

1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Grossman ◽  
Susan Carvell ◽  
Stephen Gollomp ◽  
Matthew B. Stern ◽  
Martin Reivich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Left Caudate ◽  
Regional Cerebral Glucose Metabolism

Sentence comprehension is a complex process involving at least a grammatical processor and a procedural component that supports language computations. One type of cerebral architecture that may underlie sentence processing is a network of distributed brain regions. We report two experiments designed to evaluate the cognitive and physiological substrate of sentence processing diaculties in nondemented patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). In the first experiment, patients answered simple questions about sentences that varied in their computational demands. Group and individual patient analyses indicated that PD patients are significantly compromised on this task, and that their difficulties become more prominent as the computational demands of the sentences increase. We manipulated the set of sentences to stress performance aspects of sentence processing. PD patients were compromised in their ability to detect errors in the presence and nature of a sentence's grammatical morphemes, suggesting a deficit in selective attention, but their ability to answer questions about a sentence was not afFected by short-term memory factors. In the second experiment, positron emission tomography was used to correlate this pattern of sentence comprehension impairment with regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMRgl) obtained at rest in a representative subset of these PD patients. Grammatical comprehension and attention in sentence processing correlated significantly with mesial frontal rCMRgl. Regression analyses confirmed the central role of left mesial frontal cortex, and identified a subsidiary role for left caudate in overall sentence comprehension, for left dorsolateral frontal cortex in grammatical processing, and for bilateral dorsolateral frontal cortex in attending to the presence of grammatical features. We conclude that compromised mesial frontal functioning underlies in part the sentence processing deficit of these patients, and these data illustrate one method for mapping portions of a sentence processing mechanism onto a distributed cerebral architecture.

scholarly journals The interaction between structure and meaning in sentence comprehension: Recurrent neural networks and reading times

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan L. Frank ◽  
John Hoeks
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Recurrent Neural Networks ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Word Predictability ◽  
Syntactic Ambiguities ◽  
Potential Object

Recurrent neural network (RNN) models of sentence processing have recently displayed a remarkable ability to learn aspects of structure comprehension, as evidenced by their ability to account for reading times on sentences with local syntactic ambiguities (i.e., garden-path effects). Here, we investigate if these models can also simulate the effect of semantic appropriateness of the ambiguity's readings. RNNs-based estimates of surprisal of the disambiguating verb of sentences with an NP/S-coordination ambiguity (as in `The wizard guards the king and the princess protects ...') show identical patters to human reading times on the same sentences: Surprisal is higher on ambiguous structures than on their disambiguated counterparts and this effect is weaker, but not absent, in cases of poor thematic fit between the verb and its potential object (`The teacher baked the cake and the baker made ...'). These results show that an RNN is able to simultaneously learn about structural and semantic relations between words and suggest that garden-path phenomena may be more closely related to word predictability than traditionally assumed.

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