PREDICTIVE PROCESSING OF IMPLICIT CAUSALITY IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Hyunwoo Kim ◽  
Theres Grüter
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Real Time Processing ◽  
Time Processing ◽  
Early Use ◽  
Implicit Causality ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Korean Learners Of English ◽  
Dependent Clause

Abstract Implicit causality (IC) is a well-known phenomenon whereby certain verbs appear to create biases to remention either their subject or object in a causal dependent clause. This study investigated to what extent Korean learners of English made use of IC information for predictive processing at a discourse level, and whether L2 proficiency played a modulating role in this process. Results from a visual-world eye-tracking experiment showed early use of IC information in both L1 and L2 listeners, yet the effect was weaker and emerged later in the L2 group. None of three independent and intercorrelated proficiency measures modulated L2 listeners’ processing behavior. The findings suggest that L2 listeners are able to engage in prediction during real-time processing at a discourse level, although they did so to a more limited extent than native speakers in this study. We discuss these findings in light of similar evidence from other recent work.

Cross-linguistic syntactic priming in Korean learners of English

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1223-1247
Author(s):  
Myeongeun Son
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Information Structures ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Syntactic Representation ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Korean And English ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Korean Learners Of English

AbstractThis study investigates whether L2 learners develop and share an abstract syntactic representation between an L1 and L2 with different word orders and, if so, whether one language’s unique syntactic features affect the shared representation. Korean (SOV) and English (SVO) have equivalent dative alternations; however, because Korean allows word-order scrambling, several dative structures are available in Korean that do not have English counterparts. In this study’s cross-linguistic syntactic priming experiment, intermediate and advanced Korean learners of English described pictures in English after reading various types of Korean dative sentences. The study found evidence of cross-linguistic syntactic priming between Korean and English, regardless of L2 proficiency, but only when prime and target structures shared identical functional assignments, information structures, and order of thematic roles. These results suggest that, within limits created by language-specific features, L2 learners can develop and share abstract representations between two languages with different word orders.

scholarly journals Antecedent contained deletions in native and non-native sentence processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 554-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Boxell ◽  
Claudia Felser ◽  
Ian Cunnings
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Real Time Processing ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Movement Data ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Quantifier Raising ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract We report the results from an eye-movement monitoring study investigating native (L1) and non-native (L2) speakers’ real-time processing of antecedent-contained deletion (ACD), a type of verb phrase ellipsis in which the ellipsis gap forms part of its own antecedent. The resulting interpretation problem is traditionally thought to be solved by quantifier raising, a covert scope-shifting operation that serves to remove the gap from within its antecedent. Our L2 group comprised advanced, native German-speaking L2 learners of English. The analysis of the eye-movement data showed that both L1 and L2 English speakers tried to recover the missing verb phrase after encountering the gap. Only the native speakers showed evidence of ellipsis resolution being affected by quantification, however. No effects of quantification following gap detection were found in the L2 group, by contrast, indicating that recovery of the elided material was accomplished independently from the object’s quantificational status in this group.

THE ACQUISITION AND INTERPRETATION OF ENGLISH LOCATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS BY NATIVE SPEAKERS OF KOREAN

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bley-Vroman ◽  
Hye-Ri Joo
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Test Instrument ◽  
Locative Alternation ◽  
Ground Object ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Equivalent Test ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Korean Learners Of English

The English locative alternation relates sentences of the type John loaded hay onto the wagon to those of the type John loaded the wagon with hay. Some locative verbs occur in both of these patterns, others in only one or the other. It is known that there are differences among languages with respect to which verbs are possible. The present research focuses on the constructional meaning of the locative alternation and on the constraints governing verbs that can participate in the alternation. One characteristic of the “ground-object” locative is that the object tends to be viewed as completely affected. This is known as the holism effect. Additionally, English has certain narrow constraints on the verbs that can occur in the two constructions. This study investigates whether native speakers of Korean learning English develop knowledge of the holism effect in the English locative and knowledge of the narrow constraints. English native speakers and Korean learners of English participated in a forced-choice picture-description task. Native speakers of Korean also judged an equivalent test instrument in Korean. The primary results are these: When given a ground-object structure, both learners and English native speakers preferentially chose a ground-holism picture. We interpret this as a reflection of the holism effect: Learners, like native speakers, have knowledge of this aspect of the constructional meaning of the locative. English native speakers also show their knowledge of the narrow conflation classes by rejecting ground-object structures containing verbs that are not permitted in this structure, even if the picture would be appropriate. Korean learners show no effect for narrow verb class. We interpret this as showing that the learners have not achieved native-speaker knowledge of the narrow classes. Korean uses a different basis for verb classification.

Acquisition of the constraints on wanna contraction by advanced second language learners: Universal grammar and imperfect knowledge

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soo-Ok Kweon ◽  
Robert Bley-Vroman
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Child Language Acquisition ◽  
Imperfect Knowledge ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Korean Learners Of English

Contraction of want to to wanna is subject to constraints that have been related to the operation of Universal Grammar. Contraction appears to be blocked when the trace of an extracted wh-word intervenes. Evidence for knowledge of these constraints by young English-speaking children has been taken to show the operation of Universal Grammar in early child language acquisition. The present study investigates knowledge of these constraints in adults, both English native speakers and advanced Korean learners of English. The results of three experiments — using elicited production, oral repair, and grammaticality judgments — confirmed native speaker knowledge of the constraints. A second process of phonological elision may also operate to produce wanna. Learners also showed some differentiation of contexts, but much less clearly than native speakers. We speculate that non-natives may be using rules of complement selection, rather than the constraints of Universal Grammar (UG) to control contraction.

scholarly journals Cross-linguistic activation of implicit causality biases in Korean learners of English

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
HYUNWOO KIM ◽  
THERES GRÜTER
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Completion ◽  
English Sentence ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Implicit Causality ◽  
Language Activation ◽  
Reference Processing ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Korean Learners Of English

This study investigates how the strength of referential biases associated with implicit vs explicit causality predicates in Korean affects Korean-speaking learners’ reference choices in English. Sentence-completion experiments with Korean (Experiment 1a) and English (1b) native speakers showed that Korean speakers referred to the subject more following predicates with explicit vs implicit causality marking, whereas English speakers showed no difference in referential bias for the English translation correspondents of these predicates, which did not contain explicit causality marking. In Experiment 2, Korean learners of English completed an English sentence-completion task, either preceded or followed by a translation task, to test whether strength of referential bias in Korean would affect their referential choices in English. After factoring in individual differences in cross-linguistic associations, results provided evidence that cross-language activation at the word level affects reference processing at a discourse level, with the predicted effect somewhat enhanced by translation priming.

scholarly journals L2 Knowledge of the Obligatory French Subjunctive: Offline Measures and Eye Tracking Compared

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Amber Dudley ◽  
Roumyana Slabakova
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Grammatical Knowledge ◽  
Real Time Processing ◽  
Time Processing ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Computational Resources ◽  
L1 And L2

Extensive research has shown that second language (L2) learners find it difficult to apply grammatical knowledge during real-time processing, especially when differences exist between the first (L1) and L2. The current study examines the extent to which British English-speaking learners of French can apply their grammatical knowledge of the French subjunctive during real-time processing, and whether this ability is modulated by the properties of the L1 grammar, and/or proficiency. Data from an acceptability judgment task and an eye-tracking during reading experiment revealed that L2 learners had knowledge of the subjunctive, but were unable to apply this knowledge when reading for comprehension. Such findings therefore suggest that L2 knowledge of the subjunctive, at least at the proficiency levels tested in this study, is largely metalinguistic (explicit) in nature and that reduced lexical access and/or limited computational resources (e.g., working memory) prevented learners from fully utilising their grammatical representations during real-time processing.

Focus prosody by Korean learners of English

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Liu ◽  
Yong-cheol Lee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Identification Rate ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Digit String ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Korean Learners Of English

Abstract This study examined whether Korean learners of English attained native-like performance in English focus prosody by conducting production and perception experiments using digit strings. Language learners were classified into advanced-, intermediate-, and low-level groups according to their proficiency and compared with native speakers. Native speakers’ focus prosody was clearly prominent in the focus positions, and their post-focus positions were considerably compressed. Their focused digits were easy to detect, resulting in a 97% identification rate. Although advanced-level speakers produced acoustic cues quite similar to those of native speakers, their post-focus production did not resemble that of native speakers. Their identification rate was 81%, 16% lower than that of native speakers. Neither intermediate- nor low-level speakers’ focus-cueing changes were distinguished whatsoever in the focus and post-focus positions. Their identification rates were just over 10%, similar to the level of chance in a 10-digit string, implying that their focus productions were not sufficiently salient to be recognized in the experiment. The results suggest that second language acquisition is hindered by a negative transfer between English and Korean. The acquisition of second language focus prosody proceeds slowly; second language learners approach native-like proficiency once they become advanced.

TRANSITIVITY IN THE PROCESSING OF INTRANSITIVE CLAUSES

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-552
Author(s):  
Laurent Dekydtspotter ◽  
Hyun-Kyoung Seo
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Linear Mixed Model ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Intransitive Verbs ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Rule Out

We document weak garden paths after intransitive verbs, modulated by intransitivity type, in the treatment of DP1 Vintransitive DP2 V2 sequences as in As the journalist arrived the editor postponed the meeting in first language (L1) and second language (L2) sentence processing. In a noncumulative moving-window experiment, 25 English native speakers and 22 low-intermediate Korean learners of English with no naturalistic exposure read critical items in which a subordinate clause was either headed by an intransitive verb (unaccusative vs. unergative) or by a copular predicate. A linear mixed model revealed greater processing loads evidenced in longer reading times on V2 after intransitive verbs than after copular predicates. This finding echoes post hoc observations in Juffs (2004). These asymmetries were driven by significantly greater loads after unaccusative verbs than after copular predicates and unergative verbs. These asymmetries, found in both L1 and L2, are unexpected on the basis of valence information only, as one-place predicates should rule out a second argument. However, we argue that they receive an explanation if parsing involves the interaction of lexically encoded intransitivity information with a transitivity prediction.

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