Cross-linguistic lexical and syntactic co-activation in L2 sentence processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Hopp
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
First Language ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Lexical Activation ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
On Line ◽  
Embedded Clauses

Abstract This study investigates under which conditions the L1 syntax is activated in L2 on-line sentence comprehension. We study whether cross-linguistic syntactic activation of the L1 word order is affected by lexical activation of the first language (L1) by virtue of cognate words. In two eye-tracking experiments, German-English bilinguals and English natives read English sentences containing reduced relative clauses whose surface word order partially overlaps with German embedded clauses. The verbs used were either German-English cognates or matched control verbs. The results show lexical cognate facilitation and syntactic co-activation of L1 word order, with the latter being moderated by proficiency and cognate status. Critically, syntactic co-activation is found only with English control words. We argue that fleeting co-activation of the L1 syntax becomes measurable under higher demands of lexical processing, while cognate facilitation frees resources for inhibition of the L1 syntax and target-like syntactic processing.

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.

Evidence for impaired sentence comprehension in early Alzheimer's disease

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAREN CROOT ◽  
JOHN R. HODGES ◽  
KARALYN PATTERSON
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Alzheimer Type ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Moderate Dementia ◽  
Early Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
The Relationship

We investigated sentence comprehension in 46 patients with probable minimal (very mild), mild, or moderate dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), comparing their performance on the Test for the Reception of Grammar (TROG), with that of 20 age- and education-matched controls. Performance on the TROG was generally related to dementia severity, independent of lexicosemantic and working memory (digit span) impairments, but related to at least 1 measure of attention. Some patients in the minimal group showed sentence comprehension deficits while others in the moderate group did not, indicating that DAT may impair sentence comprehension at the very earliest stages of disease, but that its effects are heterogeneous. Patients were most impaired on sentences with 2 propositions and noncanonical word order, suggesting difficulties with both interpretative and postinterpretative stages of sentence processing. Further investigation is needed into the relationship between attentional processes, interpretative and postinterpretative stages of syntactic processing in DAT. (JINS, 1999, 5, 393–404.)

Verb bias and semantic persistence effects in L2 ambiguity resolution

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832199790
Author(s):  
Duygu Fatma Şafak ◽  
Holger Hopp
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
First Language ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Verb Bias ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
On Line

To pinpoint difficulties in the second language (L2) processing of temporarily ambiguous sentences, this study investigates first language (L1) effects and effects of verb bias, i.e. frequency information about preferential verb complements, on semantic persistence effects in L2 sentence comprehension. We tested 32 L1 German and 32 L1 Turkish intermediate-to-advanced learners of L2 English as well as 17 English natives in eye-tracking during reading and off-line comprehension. In off-line comprehension, neither natives nor L2 learners show verb bias effects, suggesting that semantic persistence of initial misinterpretations arises independently of lexical preferences. In contrast, reading times show that all groups are immediately sensitive to verb bias on-line, with L1 differences in how strongly verb bias affects garden-pathing. Unlike natives, however, L2 learners do not use verb bias to overcome semantic persistence to complete reanalysis in later segments of the sentence. We argue that, in spite of their initial sensitivity to verb bias in modulating garden paths, L2 readers suffer from processing limitations that constrain their ability to retrieve and integrate multiple sources of information for reanalysis. Our study confirms that reanalysis constitutes a key area of native versus non-native differences in L2 sentence processing.

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.

Case morphology and word order in second language Turkish: Evidence from Greek learners

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Despina Papadopoulou ◽  
Spyridoula Varlokosta ◽  
Vassilios Spyropoulos ◽  
Hasan Kaili ◽  
Sophia Prokou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Case Morphology ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
Order Constraints ◽  
On Line

The optional use of morphology attested in second language learners has been attributed either to a representational deficit or to a ‘surface’ problem with respect to the realization of inflectional affixes. In this article we contribute to this issue by providing empirical data from the early interlanguage of Greek learners of Turkish. Three experiments have been conducted, a cloze task, a sentence picture matching task and an on-line grammaticality judgement task, in order to investigate case morphology and its interaction with word order constraints. The findings of all three experiments point towards a variable use of case morphology, which is also observed in previous studies of Turkish as a second language (L2). Moreover, they show clearly that the learners face difficulties with non-canonical word orders as well as with the interaction of word order constraints and Case. On the other hand, the learners performed well on verbal inflections. On the basis of these findings, we argue that the developmental patterns in the early stages of L2 acquisition cannot be attributed to a global lack of functional categories but rather to more localized difficulties, which seem to be related to (a) whether the features in the L2 are grammaticalized in the first language and (b) the way these features are encoded in the morphosyntax of the first language. Moreover, we claim that processing factors and the specific properties of the morphological paradigms affect L2 development.

scholarly journals The processing of ambiguous sentences by first and second language learners of English

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAUDIA FELSER ◽  
LEAH ROBERTS ◽  
THEODORE MARINIS ◽  
REBECCA GROSS
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
On Line ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This study investigates the way adult second language (L2) learners of English resolve relative clause attachment ambiguities in sentences such as The dean liked the secretary of the professor who was reading a letter. Two groups of advanced L2 learners of English with Greek or German as their first language participated in a set of off-line and on-line tasks. The results indicate that the L2 learners do not process ambiguous sentences of this type in the same way as adult native speakers of English do. Although the learners' disambiguation preferences were influenced by lexical–semantic properties of the preposition linking the two potential antecedent noun phrases (of vs. with), there was no evidence that they applied any phrase structure–based ambiguity resolution strategies of the kind that have been claimed to influence sentence processing in monolingual adults. The L2 learners' performance also differs markedly from the results obtained from 6- to 7-year-old monolingual English children in a parallel auditory study, in that the children's attachment preferences were not affected by the type of preposition at all. We argue that children, monolingual adults, and adult L2 learners differ in the extent to which they are guided by phrase structure and lexical–semantic information during sentence processing.

L1 effects on the emergence of ESL sentence processing skills of Chinese and Korean ESL learners

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Fender
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
English Sentence ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
On Line ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Chinese Esl Learners

This study examines the emergence of lower-level ESL sentence processing skills involved in integrating English words into predicate structures on-line. The aim of the present study is to examine how the L1 phrase structure and corresponding L1 word integration skills of ESL learners influence their corresponding ESL sentence processing skills in an on-line English sentence reading task. The study examined the English predicate and verb phrase processing skills of a group of Chinese ESL learners whose language has right-branching L1 verb phrase structures (head-complement word order) and a group of proficiency-matched Korean ESL learners whose native language only allows left-branching L1 verb phrase structures (i.e., complement-head word order). The Chinese ESL group (n = 20) was significantly faster than the Korean ESL group (n = 18) in reading and integrating direct object nouns into English predicate phrase structures, though there were no significant differences comprehending the sentences. In addition, the Chinese ESL group was significantly more accurate in reading and comprehending transitive sentences in which the direct objects had an embedded relative clause. The results suggest that L1 word integration skills influence and shape the emergence of on-line ESL word integration

L1 word order and sensitivity to verb bias in L2 processing

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
EUN-KYUNG LEE ◽  
DORA HSIN-YI LU ◽  
SUSAN M. GARNSEY
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Verb Bias ◽  
On Line ◽  
Korean Learners

Using a self-paced reading task, this study examines whether second language (L2) learners are flexible enough to learn L2 parsing strategies that are not useful in their first language (L1). Native Korean-speaking learners of English were compared with native English speakers on resolving a temporary ambiguity about the relationship between a verb and the noun following it (e.g.,The student read [that] the article. . .). Consistent with previous studies, native English reading times showed the usual interaction between the optional complementizerthatand the particular verb's bias about the structures that can follow it. Lower proficiency L1-Korean learners of L2-English did not show a similar interaction, but higher proficiency learners did. Thus, despite native language word order differences (English: SVO; Korean: SOV) that determine the availability of verbs early enough in sentences to generate predictions about upcoming sentence structure, higher proficiency L1-Korean learners were able to learn to optimally combine verb bias and complementizer cues on-line during sentence comprehension just as native English speakers did, while lower proficiency learners had not yet learned to do so. Optimal interactive cue combination during L2 sentence comprehension can probably be achieved only after sufficient experience with the target language.

scholarly journals The neurobiology of agrammatic sentence comprehension: a lesion study

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corianne Rogalsky ◽  
Arianna N. LaCroix ◽  
Kuan-Hua Chen ◽  
Steven W. Anderson ◽  
Hanna Damasio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Broca’S Area ◽  
Broca's Area ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Lesion Symptom Mapping

AbstractBroca’s area has long been implicated in sentence comprehension. Damage to this region is thought to be the central source of “agrammatic comprehension” in which performance is substantially worse (and near chance) on sentences with noncanonical word orders compared to canonical word order sentences (in English). This claim is supported by functional neuroimaging studies demonstrating greater activation in Broca’s area for noncanonical versus canonical sentences. However, functional neuroimaging studies also have frequently implicated the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in sentence processing more broadly, and recent lesion-symptom mapping studies have implicated the ATL and mid temporal regions in agrammatic comprehension. The present study investigates these seemingly conflicting findings in 66 left hemisphere patients with chronic focal cerebral damage. Patients completed two sentence comprehension measures, sentence-picture matching and plausibility judgments. Patients with damage including Broca’s area (but excluding the temporal lobe; n=11) on average did not exhibit the expected agrammatic comprehension pattern, e.g. their performance was > 80% on noncanonical sentences in the sentence-picture matching task. Patients with ATL damage (n=18) also did not exhibit an agrammatic comprehension pattern. Across our entire patient sample, the lesions of patients with agrammatic comprehension patterns in either task had maximal overlap in posterior superior temporal and inferior parietal regions. Using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM), we find that lower performances on canonical and noncanonical sentences in each task are both associated with damage to a large left superior temporal-inferior parietal network including portions of the ATL, but not Broca’s area. Notably however, response bias in plausibility judgments was significantly associated with damage to inferior frontal cortex, including gray and white matter in Broca’s area, suggesting that the contribution of Broca’s area to sentence comprehension may be related to task-related cognitive demands.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological Signatures of Visual Lexical Processing: Open-and Closed-Class Words

1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin M. Brown ◽  
Peter Hagoort ◽  
Mariken ter Keurs
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
Categorical Information ◽  
On Line ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Class Distinction

n This paper presents evidence of the disputed existence of an electrophysiological marker for the lexical-categorical distinction between open-and closed-class words. Event-related brain potentials were recorded from the scalp while subjects read a story. Separate waveforms were computed for open-and closed-class words. Two aspects of the waveforms could be reliably related to vocabulary class. The first was an early negativity in the 230-to 350-msec epoch, with a bilateral anterior predominance. This negativity was elicited by open-and closed-class words alike, was not affected by word frequency or word length, and had an earlier peak latency for closed-class words. The second was a frontal slow negative shift in the 350-to 500-msec epoch, largest over the left side of the scalp. This late negativity was only elicited by closed-class words. Although the early negativity cannot serve as a qualitative marker of the open-and closed-class distinction, it does reflect the earliest electrophysiological manifestation of the availability of categorical information from the mental lexicon. These results suggest that the brain honors the distinction between open-and closed-class words, in relation to the different roles that they play in on-line sentence processing.

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