Grammaticality Judgment Task

Abstract This paper examines whether second language (L2)-English learners whose native languages (L1; Korean and Mandarin) lack obligatory plural marking transfer the properties of plural marking from their L1s, and whether transfer is manifested both offline (in a grammaticality judgment task) and online (in a self-paced reading task). The online task tests the predictions of the morphological congruency hypothesis (Jiang 2007), according to which L2 learners have particular difficulty automatically activating the meaning of L2 morphemes that are incongruent with their L1. Experiment 1 tests L2 learners’ sensitivity to errors of –s oversuppliance with mass nouns, while Experiment 2 tests their sensitivity to errors of –s omission with count nouns. The findings show that (a) L2 learners detect errors with nonatomic mass nouns (sunlights) but not atomic ones (furnitures), both offline and online; and (b) L1-Korean L2-English learners are more successful than L1-Mandarin L2-English learners in detecting missing –s with definite plurals (these boat), while the two groups behave similarly with indefinite plurals (many boat). Given that definite plurals require plural marking in Korean but not in Mandarin, the second finding is consistent with L1-transfer. Overall, the findings show that learners are able to overcome morphological incongruency and acquire novel uses of L2 morphemes.

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The interaction of working memory capacity and engagement with recasts on different L2 outcome measures: A replication of Révész ()

Language Teaching ◽

10.1017/s0261444821000471 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Javad Alipour ◽

Maryam Mohebi ◽

Ali Roohani

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Learner Engagement ◽

Oral Production ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

Coding Method ◽

Lower Effect ◽

Description Task

Abstract We report on a conceptual replication of Révész (2012) in order to investigate the idea whether learners provided with recasts do engage in different kinds of behavioral engagement as a function of their working memory and if/how this engagement comes to bear on performance on different measures. Engagement with recasts was measured through a coding method categorizing responses to the recasts running the gamut from: (1) no opportunity, (2) opportunity, but did not repeat, (3) repeated the recasted form, (4) negotiated the response, to (5) used the recasted form later in the discourse. Consistent with Révész (2012), though with lower effect sizes, the results showed that recasts were most conducive to gains on an oral task and less so on a written description task, but non-effective on a grammaticality judgment task. Furthermore, it was revealed that learners with a high phonological short-term memory were more prone to recast-induced engagement on an oral production task, whereas those enjoying a higher reading span were considerably less so. We propose that learner engagement be deemed more important in future interaction research.

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AGE OF ONSET, TYPE OF EXPOSURE, AND ULTIMATE ATTAINMENT OF L2 MORPHO-SYNTACTIC SENSITIVITY

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263119000731 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 801-823

Author(s):

Eun-Kyoung Rosa Lee

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Age Of Onset ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Control Group ◽

Learning Context ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

Third Person

AbstractThe present study examined whether early immersive L2 exposure in a foreign language learning context can yield long-term advantages in L2 morpho-syntactic sensitivity. Participants were 40 Korean university students with high English proficiency, who had either attended an English kindergarten or begun learning English in a classroom, and a control group of native English speakers. All participants performed a speeded aural grammaticality judgment task that included the following features: articles, subcategorization, plural -s, third-person -s. Results showed that the English-kindergarten group outperformed the late-classroom group in terms of accuracy for ungrammatical sentences, while the two groups did not differ significantly on grammatical sentences and in reaction time measures. The learners altogether scored higher in plural -s and third-person -s compared to articles. While the native speakers showed near-perfect accuracy and fast reaction times, the highly proficient learners were at near-chance level in detecting morpho-syntactic errors during online L2 aural processing.

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Incidental and explicit learning of L2 derivational morphology and the nature of acquired knowledge

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716419000304 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (6) ◽

pp. 1377-1404

Author(s):

Keiichi Ishikawa

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Explicit Knowledge ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Explicit Learning ◽

Derivational Morphology ◽

Verbal Reports ◽

Delayed Effects ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Set Up

AbstractThe aim of the current study was to compare both incidental and explicit auditory learning of second language derivational morphology by measuring the accuracy and the reaction time of a grammaticality judgment task. Furthermore, the study was set up to examine the nature of acquired knowledge using subjective measures of awareness during the testing phases and postexperimental verbal reports. The delayed effects of learning were investigated by testing participants immediately after the learning and 1 week later also. The results showed a significant learning effect for the incidental and explicit learners immediately after exposure, but only the explicit learners maintained the learning effects a week later. Both types of learners showed no significant difference in the reaction time. Incidental learners primarily developed implicit knowledge, while explicit learners relied on explicit knowledge to a large extent, part of which became unconscious later. The differences of learning under incidental and explicit learning conditions are discussed in terms of the maintenance of knowledge.

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L2 Grammar and L2 Processing in the Acquisition of Spanish Prepositional Relative Clauses

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728914000583 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 577-596 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

SILVIA PERPIÑÁN

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Relative Clauses ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Universal Grammar ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Linguistic Knowledge ◽

Time Data ◽

Arabic Speakers ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

The One

This paper investigates the acquisition of prepositional relative clauses in L2 Spanish by English and Arabic speakers to understand the role of previous linguistic knowledge and Universal Grammar on the one hand, and the relationship between grammatical knowledge and its use in real-time, on the other. An oral production task and an on-line self-paced grammaticality judgment task were analyzed. Results indicated that the acquisition of oblique relative clauses is a problematic area for L2 learners. Divergent results compared to native speakers in production and grammatical intuitions were found; however, L2 reading time data showed the same real-time effects that native speakers had, suggesting that the problems with this construction are not necessarily linked to processing deficits. These results are interpreted as evidence for the ability to apply universal processing principles in a second language, and the relative independence of the processing domain and the production system.

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Examining the impact of task demands on morphological variability in native and non-native Spanish*

Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism ◽

10.1075/lab.4.2.03lop ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 192-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Beatriz López Prego ◽

Alison Gabriele

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

Morphological Variability ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Task Demands ◽

Advanced Learners ◽

Number Agreement ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

Perfect Performance ◽

English Speaking ◽

The Impact

The study tests representational and computational accounts of morphological variability in English-speaking learners of Spanish by examining performance on gender and number agreement under different task demands. Second language (L2) learners took either a Speeded grammaticality judgment task (GJT) or an Untimed GJT. The tasks targeted agreement violations of two types: errors in the use of ‘default’ morphology and errors involving ‘feature clashes’ (McCarthy, 2008). In addition, three groups of native speakers took the Speeded GJT at three different presentation rates to examine whether native speakers under a processing burden perform similarly to learners. Natives in the fastest speed performed better with feature clash errors for both gender and number. Learners showed the same pattern for number, but performed better with default errors in gender, suggesting different effects of processing demands for properties unique to the L2. On the Untimed GJT, a subset of advanced learners showed perfect performance with both gender and number.

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Bilingual exposure enhances left IFG specialization for language in children

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728918000512 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (04) ◽

pp. 783-801 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

MARIA M. ARREDONDO ◽

XIAO-SU HU ◽

ERICA SEIFERT ◽

TERESA SATTERFIELD ◽

IOULIA KOVELMAN

Keyword(s):

Judgment Task ◽

Linguistic Competence ◽

Inflectional Morphology ◽

Brain Lateralization ◽

Cortical Organization ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

Left Brain ◽

Verb Tense ◽

Inferior Frontal Region

Language acquisition is characterized by progressive use of inflectional morphology marking verb tense and agreement. Linguistic milestones are also linked to left-brain lateralization for language specialization. We used neuroimaging (fNIRS) to investigate how bilingual exposure influences children's cortical organization for processing morpho-syntax. In Study 1, monolinguals and bilinguals (n = 39) completed a grammaticality judgment task that included English sentences with violations in earlier-acquired (verb agreement) and later-acquired (verb tense/agreement) structures. Groups showed similar performance and greater activation in left inferior frontal region (IFG) for later- than earlier-acquired conditions. Bilinguals showed stronger and more restricted left IFG activation. In Study 2, bilinguals completed a comparable Spanish task revealing patterns of left IFG activation similar to English. Taken together, the findings suggest that bilinguals with linguistic competence at parity with monolingual counterparts have a higher degree of cortical specialization for language, likely a result of enriched linguistic experiences.

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Source(s) of syntactic cross-linguistic influence (CLI): The case of L3 acquisition of English possessives by Mazandarani–Persian bilinguals

Second language Research ◽

10.1177/0267658315618009 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 225-245 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Nader Fallah ◽

Ali Akbar Jabbari ◽

Ali Mohammad Fazilatfar

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

First Language ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Third Language ◽

The Third ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

L3 Acquisition

This study investigates the role of previously acquired linguistic systems, Mazandarani and Persian, in the acquisition of third language (L3) English at the initial stages. The data have been obtained from 31 students (age 13–14 years), testing the placement of attributive possessives in a grammaticality judgment task, an element rearrangement task and an elicited oral imitation task. The participants consist of three groups: The first two groups have Mazandarani as the first language (L1) and Persian as the second language (L2), but differ from each other with respect to the language of communication, Mazandarani and Persian, respectively. The third group has Persian as the L1 and Mazandarani as the L2, with Persian as the language of communication. English and Mazandarani pattern similarly in the target structures. That is to say, possessors precede possessed nouns and possessive adjectives come before nouns. In contrast, in Persian, possessives occur post-nominally. The results of this study reveal that none of the proposals tested (e.g. the L1 Factor, Hermas, 2010, 2014a, 2014b; the L2 Status Factor, Bardel and Falk, 2007; Falk and Bardel, 2011; the Cumulative Enhancement Model (CEM), Flynn et al., 2004; the Typological Proximity Model (TPM), Rothman, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015) could account for the results obtained. This study provides support that at the initial stages of L3 acquisition, syntactic transfer originates from the language of communication, irrespective of order of acquisition.

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Constructional tolerance

Constructions and Frames ◽

10.1075/cf.6.2.06per ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 266-304 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Florent Perek ◽

Martin Hilpert

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Argument Structure ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Experimental Results ◽

Relative Ease ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

Grammaticality Judgments ◽

Lexical Items ◽

The Way

The present paper investigates the question whether different languages can be categorized into ‘constructionally tolerant’ languages, which grant speakers considerable freedom to combine syntactic constructions with lexical items in non-conventional ways, and ‘valency-driven’ languages, which impose stronger restrictions on the way in which constructions and lexical items can be combined. The idea of such a typological distinction is sketched for instance by Rostila (2014). In order to explore possible effects of constructional tolerance, a grammaticality judgment task is administered to speakers of English and French, which are two languages that differ with regard to this phenomenon: English verbs can be used across different argument structure constructions with relative ease, French verbs are more constrained. Both populations of speakers are exposed to stimuli sentences of varying creativity in a second language, namely German. The paper advances the constructional tolerance hypothesis, which states that speakers of a constructionally tolerant language should judge non-conventional examples in an L2 with more lenience than speakers of a valency-driven language. The experimental results are in line with this hypothesis, but they also suggest that grammaticality judgments are influenced by the availability of a productive L1 construction that shows functional overlap.

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Verb movement in the L2 acquisition of English by adult native speakers of French

EUROSLA Yearbook ◽

10.1075/eurosla.5.05ayo ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 35-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dalila Ayoun

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Production Task ◽

L2 Acquisition ◽

Verb Movement ◽

School Students ◽

Grammaticality Judgment ◽

Performance Effects ◽

Adverb Placement ◽

Syntactic Properties

This study investigates the acquisition of English verb movement phenomena by two groups of adult French native speakers: a group of secondary school students and a group of university students. A group of English native speakers served as controls. Participants were administered a written questionnaire composed of a controlled production task, a grammaticality judgment task, and a preference/grammaticality judgment task, to test acquisition of the syntactic properties associated with the verb movement parameter (Pollock 1989, 1997). Instead of substantiating the anecdotal evidence that suggests that adverb placement errors persist into very advanced stages of English L2 acquisition, the present data support the successful acquisition of English adverb placement by French native speakers. It is argued that the advanced group has acquired the appropriate L2 parametric value as measured by the controlled production task; while results on the other two tasks are explained by performance effects.

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