Prediction and integration in native and second-language processing of elliptical structures

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDITH KAAN ◽  
JOSEPH KIRKHAM ◽  
FRANK WIJNEN
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Frontal Negativity ◽  
Related Potentials

According to recent views of L2-sentence processing, L2-speakers do not predict upcoming information to the same extent as do native speakers. To investigate L2-speakers’ predictive use and integration of syntactic information across clauses, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from advanced L2-learners and native speakers while they read sentences in which the syntactic context did or did not allow noun-ellipsis (Lau, E., Stroud, C., Plesch, S., & Phillips, C. (2006). The role of structural prediction in rapid syntactic analysis. Brain and Language, 98, 74–88.) Both native and L2-speakers were sensitive to the context when integrating words after the potential ellipsis-site. However, native, but not L2-speakers, anticipated the ellipsis, as suggested by an ERP difference between elliptical and non-elliptical contexts preceding the potential ellipsis-site. In addition, L2-learners displayed a late frontal negativity for ungrammaticalities, suggesting differences in repair strategies or resources compared with native speakers.

scholarly journals The Impact of Proficiency on Syntactic Second-language Processing of German and Italian: Evidence from Event-related Potentials

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 2030-2048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Rossi ◽  
Manfred F. Gugler ◽  
Angela D. Friederici ◽  
Anja Hahne
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Word Category ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Anterior Negativity ◽  
The Impact

The present study investigated the role of proficiency in late second-language (L2) processing using comparable stimuli in German and Italian. Both sets of stimuli consisted of simple active sentences including a word category violation, a morphosyntactic agreement violation, or a combination of the two. Four experiments were conducted to study high- and low-proficiency L2 learners of German as well as high- and low-proficiency L2 learners of Italian. High-proficiency L2 learners in both languages showed the same event-related potential (ERP) components as native speakers for all syntactic violations. For the word category violation, they displayed an early anterior negativity (ELAN), an additional negativity reflecting reference-related processes, and a late P600 evidencing processes of reanalysis. For the processing of the morphosyntactic error, an anterior negativity (LAN) and a P600 were observed, whereas for the combined violation, the same ERP components were found as in the pure category violation. In high-proficiency L2 learners, the timing of the processing steps was equivalent to that of native speakers, although some amplitude differences were present. Low-proficiency L2 learners, however, showed qualitative differences in the agreement violation characterized by the absence of the LAN and quantitative differences reflected in a delayed P600 in every violation condition. These findings emphasize that with a high proficiency, late L2 learners can indeed show native-like neural responses with the timing approximating that of native speakers. This challenges the idea that there are fundamental differences in language processing in the brain between natives and late L2 learners.

scholarly journals Proficiency Differences in Syntactic Processing of Monolingual Native Speakers Indexed by Event-related Potentials

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 2728-2744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Pakulak ◽  
Helen J. Neville
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Proficiency Scores

Although anecdotally there appear to be differences in the way native speakers use and comprehend their native language, most empirical investigations of language processing study university students and none have studied differences in language proficiency, which may be independent of resource limitations such as working memory span. We examined differences in language proficiency in adult monolingual native speakers of English using an ERP paradigm. ERPs were recorded to insertion phrase structure violations in naturally spoken English sentences. Participants recruited from a wide spectrum of society were given standardized measures of English language proficiency, and two complementary ERP analyses were performed. In between-groups analyses, participants were divided on the basis of standardized proficiency scores into lower proficiency and higher proficiency groups. Compared with lower proficiency participants, higher proficiency participants showed an early anterior negativity that was more focal, both spatially and temporally, and a larger and more widely distributed positivity (P600) to violations. In correlational analyses, we used a wide spectrum of proficiency scores to examine the degree to which individual proficiency scores correlated with individual neural responses to syntactic violations in regions and time windows identified in the between-groups analyses. This approach also used partial correlation analyses to control for possible confounding variables. These analyses provided evidence for the effects of proficiency that converged with the between-groups analyses. These results suggest that adult monolingual native speakers of English who vary in language proficiency differ in the recruitment of syntactic processes that are hypothesized to be at least in part automatic as well as of those thought to be more controlled. These results also suggest that to fully characterize neural organization for language in native speakers it is necessary to include participants of varying proficiency.

scholarly journals An Event-Related Brain Potential (ERP) Study of Complex Anaphora in Spanish

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrián García-Sierra ◽  
Juan Silva-Pereyra ◽  
Graciela Catalina Alatorre-Cruz ◽  
Noelle Wig
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Brain Potential ◽  
Single Entity ◽  
Demonstrative Pronouns ◽  
Frontal Negativity ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Anterior Negativity

This study examines the event- related brain potential (ERP) of 25 Mexican monolingual Spanish-speakers when reading Spanish sentences with single entity anaphora or complex anaphora. Complex anaphora is an expression that refer to propositions, states, facts or events while, a single entity anaphora is an expression that refers back to a concrete object. Here we compare the cognitive cost in processing a single entity anaphora [éstafeminine; La renuncia (resignation)] from a complex anaphora [estoneuter; La renuncia fue aceptada (The resignation was accepted)]. Ésta elicited a larger positive peak at 200 ms, and esto elicited a larger frontal negativity around 400 ms. The positivity resembles the P200 component, and its amplitude is thought to represent an interaction between predictive qualities in sentence processing (i.e., graphical similarity and frequency of occurrence). Unlike parietal negativities (typical N400), frontal negativities are thought to represent the ease by which pronouns are linked with its antecedent, and how easy the information is recovered from short-term memory. Thus, the complex anaphora recruited more cognitive resources than the single entity anaphora. We also included an ungrammatical control sentence [éstemasculine; La renuncia (resignation)] to better understand the unique processes behind complex anaphoric resolution, as opposed to just general difficulty in sentence processing. In this case, event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by éstemasculine and éstafeminine were compared. Again, ésta elicited a larger P200. However, different from the experimental condition, a left anterior negativity (LAN) effect was observed for éste; the ungrammatical condition. Altogether, the present research provides electrophysiological evidence indicating that demonstrative pronouns with different morphosyntactic features (i.e., gender) and discourse parameters (i.e., single entity or complex referent) interact during the first stage of anaphoric processing of anaphora. This stage initiated as early as 200 milliseconds after the pronoun onset and probably ends around 400 ms.

scholarly journals Morpheme Analysis Associated with German Noun Plural Endings among Second Language (L2) Learners Using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 866
Author(s):  
Guiyoung Son
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Mechanism Model ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Syntactic Process ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Anterior Negativity ◽  
Dual Mechanism

This paper aims to examine the morpho-syntactic process of noun plural endings, “-n” and “-s”, in adult second language (L2) learners using event-related potentials (ERPs). German noun plural endings consist of many inflectional forms. They are one of the difficulties faced by German L2 learners. We recorded an electroencephalogram (EEG) study of German L2 learners by dividing study subjects into low and high L2 learners according to the learning level. We examined what ERP components were associated with L2 language processing. All participants were Korean German L2 learners who had achieved varying levels of proficiency. As a result of our analysis, we confirmed different morpho-syntactic processing between the two groups. First, N400 was detected at any learning level. It confirmed language processing supportive of the Full-Listing Model for irregular endings. Second, we confirmed left anterior negativity (LAN), as detected in both low and high proficiency L2 learners. LAN is supportive of a Full-Parsing Model for regular endings, as it was detected in both low and high proficiency L2 learners. However, P600 was detected in highly proficient L2 learners only. It implies that high proficiency learners differ from low proficiency L2 learners. P600 is processed in a reparsing process after recognition of grammatical errors. Based on this result, more active use of a Dual Mechanism Model is possible as learning levels improve. It confirms that improvement in L2 learners results in an approach to cognitive processing similar to that of German first language (L1) speakers.

Sentence Processing in Traumatic Brain Injury: Evidence From the P600

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Key-DeLyria
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Closed Head Injury ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Severe Injuries ◽  
Related Potentials

PurposeSentence processing can be affected following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to linguistic or cognitive deficits. Language-related event-related potentials (ERPs), particularly the P600, have not been described in individuals with TBI history.MethodFour young adults with a history of closed head injury participated. Two had severe injuries, and 2 had mild–moderate injuries more than 24 months prior to testing. ERPs were recorded while participants read sentences designed to be grammatically correct or incorrect. Participants also completed cognitive and sentence comprehension measures.ResultsOne participant with TBI was significantly different than the control group on several behavioral sentence measures and 1 cognitive measure. However, none of the participants with TBI had a reliable P600 effect. Nonparametric bootstrapping indicated that the ERP was reliable in 10 control participants but no participants with TBI history.ConclusionsThere were few behavioral differences between individuals with TBI history and the control group, though all reported subjective difficulty with reading. The P600 was absent in the TBI group in this study. Given the heterogeneity of individuals with TBI and the difficulty in assessing subtle language impairments, exploring the P600 further may provide useful insight into language processing difficulties.

Construct operationalization, L1 effects, and context in second language processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN JUFFS
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
First Language ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Second Language Processing

Cunnings (2016) provides welcome insights into differences between native speaker (NS) sentence processing, adult non-native speaker processing (NNS), and working memory capacity (WMC) limitations. This commentary briefly raises three issues: construct operationalization; the role of first language (L1); and context.

scholarly journals Repair, Revision, and Complexity in Syntactic Analysis: An Electrophysiological Differentiation

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Kaan ◽  
Tamara Y. Swaab
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Ambiguous Sentence ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Human Sentence Processing ◽  
Electrophysiological Differentiation

One of the core aspects of human sentence processing is the ability to detect errors and to recover from erroneous analysis through revision of ambiguous sentences and repair of ungrammatical sentences. In the present study, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to help identify the nature of these processes by directly comparing ERPs to complex ambiguous sentence structures with and without grammatical violations, and to simpler unambiguous sentence structures with and without grammatical violations. In ambiguous sentences, preference of syntactic analysis was manipulated such that in one condition, the structures agreed with the preferred analysis, and in another condition, a nonpreferred but syntactically correct analysis (garden path) was imposed. Nonpreferred ambiguous structures require revision, whereas ungrammatical structures require repair. We found that distinct ERPs reflected different characteristics of syntactic processing. Specifically, our results are consistent with the idea that a positivity with a posterior distribution across the scalp (posterior P600) is an index of syntactic processing difficulty, including repair and revision, and that a frontally distributed positivity (frontal P600) is related to ambiguity resolution and/ or to an increase in discourse level complexity.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological markers of fairness and selfishness revealed by a combination of Dictator and Ultimatum Games

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali M. Miraghaie ◽  
Hamidreza Pouretemad ◽  
Alessandro E. P. Villa ◽  
Mohammad A. Mazaheri ◽  
Reza Khosrowabadi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Dictator Game ◽  
Perceived Fairness ◽  
Selfish Behavior ◽  
Late Positive Component ◽  
Moral Decisions ◽  
Frontal Negativity ◽  
Related Potentials

In the framework of neuroeconomics, Event Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a combination of a Dictator Game (DG), in which the participants always played the role of Allocators, and an Ultimatum Game (UG), in which the participants always played the role of Responders. Behavioral analysis showed that the majority of participants were characterized by very low levels of altruistic decision making, which included two homogenous groups of individuals, one expressing fairness (GrpF, about 26%) and one selfish behavior (GrpS, about 20%). In the analysis of both games, an early negativity (N1) in the fronto-central cortical sites distinguished the GrpF and GrpS participants. The subsequent P2 wave component appeared more associated with the characteristics of the stimulus than with its behavioral value. During UG, we observed that a medial frontal negativity (MFN) occurred earlier and with greater amplitude in GrpS than in GrpF, which depended to a large extent to a spiteful punishment when the Responder refused offers less favorable for himself. The late positive component (LPC) of ERP recorded in posterior-parietal cortical sites was evoked earlier and with greater amplitude during UG than in DG and, in both games, LPC was evoked earlier and with greater amplitude in GrpS than in GrpF. Our results bring new evidence to the existence of different circuits activated by the evaluation of fair and unfair proposals in participants characterized by different expressions of perceived fairness, thus suggesting that particular brain dynamics could be associated with moral decisions.

Processing Chinese relative clauses: An investigation of second-language learners from different learning contexts

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Yao ◽  
Claire Renaud
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Head Noun ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
The Us ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Matrix Subject

AbstractThe goal of this study is to examine the processing of Chinese relative clauses (RCs) through a self-paced reading task and to determine whether the learning environment plays a role in the second-language (L2) acquisition of RCs. We investigated two types of RCs (subject vs. object RCs) along with two positions in which a RC can occur (modifying a matrix subject noun phrase [NP] vs. a matrix object NP). Eighteen native speakers of Chinese and twenty-one L2 learners at an intermediate proficiency level participated in the study. Ten learners were students learning Chinese in the US (i. e., in a foreign-language context), whereas the other eleven learners were students studying Chinese in China (i. e., in a study-abroad context). The comprehension of sentences containing a RC and reading times (RTs) on the RC and the head noun (the segment immediately following the RC) were analyzed. The results show distinct patterns for the learners and the native speakers. The accuracy data reveals that the L2 learners in China performed better than the L2 learners in the US. Additionally, the L2 learners in China exhibited a processing speed advantage to the L2 learners in the US. The RT data highlighted important asymmetries in the L2 learners in the US and the native speakers, while the results were flat for the L2 learners in China. Specifically, L2 learners in the US took longer to read object RCs than subject RCs while the opposite pattern was obtained for the L1 speakers. Moreover, matrix-object-modifying RCs revealed shorter RTs than matrix-subject-modifying RCs for L2 learners in the US, whereas the opposite pattern was found for the L1 speakers. These findings are discussed in light of the Linear Distance Theory and the Structural Distance Theory (e. g., O’Grady 1997. Syntactic development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press). Overall, these results seem to provide support to the assumption that changes in syntactic processing happen as a result of exposure to the language environment (Cuetos et al. 1996. Parsing in different languages. In Manuel Carreias, Jose E. Garcia-Albea & Nuria Sebastien-Galles (eds.), Language processing in Spanish, 145–187. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; Frenck–Mestre 2002. An on-line look at sentence processing in the second language. In Roberto Heredia & Jeanette Altarriba (eds.), Bilingual sentence processing, 217–236. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.).

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