How linear distance and structural distance affect the processing of gap-filler dependencies in head-final relative clauses

The purposes of this study are to test whether the processing of subject relative (SR) clauses is easier than that of object relative (OR) clauses in Turkish and to investigate whether the comprehension of SRs can be better explained by the linear distance hypothesis or structural distance hypothesis (SDH). The question is examined in two groups of second language (L2) learners of different proficiency levels and a few agrammatics expected to show a similar pattern. Each participant is asked to comprehend 15 sentences containing SRs and ORs via a picture selection task. The results indicate that comprehension of SRs is easier than that of ORs for intermediate level L2 learners, whereas there is no significant difference between the types of relative clauses for early learners. Another result is that early learners produce errors similar to those of agrammatics, which are explained through trace deletion and referential strategy. These findings on Turkish provide significant support for the SDH.

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A SUBJECT-OBJECT ASYMMETRY IN THE ACQUISITION OF RELATIVE CLAUSES IN KOREAN AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263103000172 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 433-448 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

William O'Grady ◽

Miseon Lee ◽

Miho Choo

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Relative Clauses ◽

Distance Effect ◽

Direct Object ◽

Strong Preference ◽

Structural Factors ◽

Structural Account ◽

Linear Distance ◽

English Speaking ◽

Object Relative

A variety of studies have reported that learners of English as a second language find subject relative clauses easier to produce and comprehend than direct object relatives, but it is unclear whether this preference should be attributed to structural factors or to a linear distance effect. This paper seeks to resolve this issue and to extend our understanding of SLA in general by investigating the interpretation of subject and direct object relative clauses by English-speaking learners of Korean, a left-branching language in which subject gaps in relative clauses are more distant from the head than are object gaps. The results of a comprehension task conducted with 53 beginning and intermediate learners point toward a strong preference for subject relative clauses, favoring the structural account.

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Processing Chinese relative clauses in context by Italian L3 learners

Second language Research ◽

10.1177/02676583211002607 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026765832110026

Author(s):

Shenai Hu ◽

Carlo Toneatto ◽

Silvia Pozzi ◽

Maria Teresa Guasti

Keyword(s):

Relative Clauses ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Head Noun ◽

Chinese Subject ◽

Chinese Speakers ◽

Third Language ◽

Subject And Object ◽

Structural Distance ◽

Two Populations ◽

Object Relative

The present study investigates third language (L3) learners’ processing of Chinese subject and object relative clauses in a supportive context. Using a self-paced reading task, we tested native Italian L3 learners of Mandarin Chinese and native Chinese speakers. The results showed that the L3 learners read significantly more slowly than the native speakers in all the target regions. Also, in the head noun region, they read object relative clauses significantly more slowly compared to subject relative clauses, indicating a preference for the latter. By contrast, for the native speakers, no significant differences were observed between subject and object relative clauses in any of the target regions. The L3 learners’ performance offers support for the Structural Distance Hypothesis over the Dependency Locality Theory, and the contrast between the two populations indicates that context is at play in the processing of relative clauses.

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