scholarly journals Processing gapping: Parallelism and grammatical constraints

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 781-798
Author(s):  
Nayoun Kim ◽  
Katy Carlson ◽  
Mike Dickey ◽  
Masaya Yoshida
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Coordination Structure ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Acceptability Rating ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
General Preference

This study aims to test two hypotheses about the online processing of Gapping: whether the parser inserts an ellipsis site in an incremental fashion in certain coordinated structures (the Incremental Ellipsis Hypothesis), or whether ellipsis is a late and dispreferred option (the Ellipsis as a Last Resort Hypothesis). We employ two offline acceptability rating experiments and a sentence fragment completion experiment to investigate to what extent the distribution of Gapping is controlled by grammatical and extra-grammatical constraints. Furthermore, an eye-tracking while reading experiment demonstrated that the parser inserts an ellipsis site incrementally but only when grammatical and extra-grammatical constraints allow for the insertion of the ellipsis site. This study shows that incremental building of the Gapping structure follows from the parser’s general preference to keep the structure of the two conjuncts maximally parallel in a coordination structure as well as from grammatical restrictions on the distribution of Gapping such as the Coordination Constraint.

scholarly journals Eye movements in vocabulary research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Pellicer-Sánchez ◽  
Anna Siyanova
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Auditory Input ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Formulaic Sequences ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Research Findings

Abstract The field of vocabulary research is witnessing a growing interest in the use of eye-tracking to investigate topics that have traditionally been examined using offline measures, providing new insights into the processing and learning of vocabulary. During an eye-tracking experiment, participants’ eye movements are recorded while they attend to written or auditory input, resulting in a rich record of online processing behaviour. Because of its many benefits, eye-tracking is becoming a major research technique in vocabulary research. However, before this emerging trend of eye-tracking based vocabulary research continues to proliferate, it is important to step back and reflect on what current studies have shown about the processing and learning of vocabulary, and the ways in which we can use the technique in future research. To this aim, the present paper provides a comprehensive overview of current eye-tracking research findings, both in terms of the processing and learning of single words and formulaic sequences. Current research gaps and potential avenues for future research are also discussed.

Observing Individuals Viewing Art

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-213
Author(s):  
Andreja Bubić ◽  
Ana Sušac ◽  
Marijan Palmović
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Behavioral Data ◽  
Movement Data ◽  
Significant Interest ◽  
General Preference

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the perception of artworks is of significant interest in experimental esthetics. Therefore, in this study, we utilized eye-tracking for investigating how participants familiar and unfamiliar with paintings’ titles viewed Kandinsky’s abstract and figural artworks. The analysis of behavioral data indicated that knowledge of the title increased participants’ liking of the presented paintings and demonstrated a general preference for figural over abstract paintings. Next, we focused the analysis of eye-movement data on areas of the paintings that depict themes associated with their titles. The results demonstrated that participants familiar with the titles viewed these longer and visited them earlier compared with those unfamiliar with paintings’ titles. Furthermore, all participants viewed these areas within figural paintings longer and returned to them more often than within abstract paintings. These findings extend previous results by indicating how presenting short titles influences participants’ viewing of abstract and figural artworks.

Sensitivity to parasitic gaps inside subject islands in native and non-native sentence processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 494-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
OLIVER BOXELL ◽  
CLAUDIA FELSER
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Online Reading ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Parasitic Gaps ◽  
Linguistic Representations ◽  
Island Constraints ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Native Group

We report the results from an eye-movement monitoring study that investigated late German–English bilinguals’ sensitivity to parasitic gaps inside subject islands. The online reading experiment was complemented by an offline scalar judgement task. The results from the offline task confirmed that for both native and non-native speakers, subject island environments must normally be non-finite in order to host a parasitic gap. The analysis of the reading-time data showed that, while native speakers posited parasitic gaps in non-finite environments only, the non-native group initially overgenerated parasitic gaps, showing delayed sensitivity to island-inducing cues during online processing. Taken together, our findings show that non-native comprehenders are sensitive to exceptions to island constraints that are not attested in their native language and also rare in the L2 input. They need more time than native comprehenders to compute the linguistic representations over which the relevant restrictions are defined, however.

scholarly journals Eye-tracking evidence for active gap-filling regardless of dependency length

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wing Yee Chow ◽  
Yangzi Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Critical Region ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Gap Filling ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Actual Location

Previous work on real-time sentence processing has established that comprehenders build and interpret filler-gap dependencies without waiting for unambiguous evidence about the actual location of the gap (“active gap-filling”) as long as such dependencies are grammatically licensed. However, this generalisation was called into question by recent findings in a self-paced reading experiment by Wagers and Phillips (2014; W&P14) which may be taken to show that comprehenders do not interpret the filler at the posited gap when the dependency spans a longer distance. In the present study we aimed to replicate these findings in an eye-tracking experiment with better controlled materials and increased statistical power. Crucially, we found clear evidence for active gap-filling across all levels of dependency length. This diverges from W&P14’s findings but is in line with the long-standing generalisation that comprehenders build and interpret filler-gap dependencies predictively as long as they are grammatically licensed. We found that the effect became smaller in the long dependency conditions in the post-critical region, which suggests the weaker effect in the long dependency conditions may have been undetected in W&P’s study due to insufficient statistical power and/or the use of a self-paced reading paradigm.

scholarly journals Definite Descriptions in the Light of the Comprehension vs. Acceptance Distinction: Comparing Self-Paced Reading with Eye-Tracking Measures

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Misha-Laura Müller ◽  
Magali A. Mari
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Gaze Patterns ◽  
Epistemic Vigilance ◽  
Effect Model ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Offline Processing

This paper presents two experiments on the processing of informative definite descriptions in plausible vs. implausible contexts. Experiment 1 is a self-paced reading task (with French native speakers, n = 69), with sentences containing a definite vs. indefinite NP, each preceded by plausible or implausible contexts. Our study replicated Singh and colleagues’ findings, namely that definite descriptions are significantly costlier when they occur in implausible contexts. The translation of the original stimuli from English to French did not affect the results, suggesting that the phenomenon applies cross-linguistically. Experiment 2 consists in an eye-tracking task, designed to measure the participants’ (n = 44) gaze patterns on complete sentences with the same four conditions (definite vs. indefinite NP; implausible vs. implausible contexts). A mixed effect model analysis revealed that (a) the total gaze duration on target segments and (b) the processing of the complete sentence were significantly longer in implausible conditions. These results show that implausible contexts predict a marked increase in the offline processing costs of definite descriptions. However, no significant difference was found for online processing measures (i.e., first fixation duration, first-pass reading time and regression path time measures) across all experimental conditions. These results suggest that it is only once the sentence is fully processed that implausible contexts increase processing costs. Furthermore, these results raise methodological issues related to the study of the online processing of definite descriptions, to the extent that self-paced reading and eye-tracking methods in the present study lead to incompatible results. With respect to the eye-tracking results, we suggest that the contrast between online and offline processing is likely to reflect the fact that participants first adopt a stance of trust to understand utterances before filtering the information through their epistemic vigilance module.

Eye tracking investigation into semantic convergence in fully fluent Spanish–English bilingual adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 508-529
Author(s):  
Virginia C Mueller Gathercole ◽  
Hans Stadthagen-González ◽  
Samia Mercedes DeCubas
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Word Type ◽  
English Word ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Conceptual Space ◽  
Semantic Extension ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Participant Group

Aims and Objectives: This article examines semantic convergence of bilinguals’ two languages in the case of words that overlap semantically but are not fully isomorphic in meaning and application. To what extent do the type of bilingual, type of category, and relative semantic width across the languages matter? Design: The primary method involves eye tracking while participants chose pictures corresponding to an English word heard. The data examine potential differences in simultaneous Spanish–English bilinguals’, early Spanish L1–English L2 bilinguals’, and monolingual English speakers’ durations and numbers of fixations on potential candidates for referents. Data and Analysis: Thirty-eight participants were administered the task in relation to 48 English words from three types of words (classical, radial, and homophonic), half with wider semantic extension in English, half with wider semantic extension in Spanish. Durations and numbers of fixations were analyzed with ANOVAs with participant group, word type, and semantic width treated as variables. Findings/Conclusions: Data revealed minimal influences from Spanish on English with homophonic words, but for classical categories, and to some extent radial categories, bilinguals showed influence from Spanish on English words: participants considered referents that would be relevant for Spanish but not English. Originality: Eye tracking provides a window into the online processing of words and their referents, and thus provides more subtle clues to bilinguals’ processing of these categories relative to monolinguals’. The results support a special status relative to semantic convergence for words whose referents correspond to categories whose members lie close together in the conceptual space. Significance/Implications: For us to best account for semantic convergence in bilingual speakers, these data indicate that the type of category and the category structure in the conceptual space matter, the relative widths of the categories in bilinguals’ two languages matter, the task demands matter, and the type of bilingual matters.

scholarly journals Four-year-old Cantonese-speaking children's online processing of relative clauses: a permutation analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANGEL CHAN ◽  
WENCHUN YANG ◽  
FRANKLIN CHANG ◽  
EVAN KIDD
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Opposite Effect ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Rc Structures ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Permutation Analysis ◽  
Object Relative

AbstractWe report on an eye-tracking study that investigated four-year-old Cantonese-speaking children's online processing of subject and object relative clauses (RCs). Children's eye-movements were recorded as they listened to RC structures identifying a unique referent (e.g. “Can you pick up the horse that pushed the pig?”). Two RC types, classifier (CL) and ge3 RCs, were tested in a between-participants design. The two RC types differ in their syntactic analyses and frequency of occurrence, providing an important point of comparison for theories of RC acquisition and processing. A permutation analysis showed that the two structures were processed differently: CL RCs showed a significant object-over-subject advantage, whereas ge3 RCs showed the opposite effect. This study shows that children can have different preferences even for two very similar RC structures within the same language, suggesting that syntactic processing preferences are shaped by the unique features of particular constructions both within and across different linguistic typologies.

scholarly journals HOW EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE AFFECTS ONLINE L2 PROCESSING

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sible Andringa ◽  
Maja Curcic
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Object Marking ◽  
Types Of Instruction

Form-focused instruction studies generally report larger gains for explicit types of instruction over implicit types on measures of controlled production. Studies that used online processing measures—which do not readily allow for the application of explicit knowledge—however, suggest that this advantage occurs primarily when the target structure is similar in the first language (L1) and the second language (L2). This study investigated how explicit knowledge of a structure that does not exist in the L1 affects the initial stage of adult L2 acquisition. Fifty-one Dutch L1 speakers received a short auditory exposure (instruction) to a new language that included differential object marking (DOM), in which animate but not inanimate direct objects are preceded by a preposition. For 26 learners, the instruction was complemented by a brief rule explanation. Afterward, learners’ online processing and explicit knowledge of DOM were measured by means of eye-tracking (visual world paradigm) and oral grammaticality judgments. Results show that metalinguistic information promoted learners’ performance on the grammaticality judgment task. Although differences between the groups were also found on the eye-tracking measure, learners were not able to use DOM to predict the following object.

scholarly journals Promoting L2 acquisition of multiword units through textually enhanced audiovisual input: An eye-tracking study

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110497
Author(s):  
Eva Puimège ◽  
Maribel Montero Perez ◽  
Elke Peters
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Multiword Units ◽  
Textual Enhancement ◽  
Word Skipping ◽  
Positive Effect

This study examines the effect of textual enhancement on learners’ attention to and learning of multiword units from captioned audiovisual input. We adopted a within-participants design in which 28 learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) watched a captioned video containing enhanced (underlined) and unenhanced multiword units. Using eye-tracking, we measured learners’ online processing of the multiword units as they appeared in the captions. Form recall pre- and posttests measured learners’ acquisition of the target items. The results of mixed effects models indicate that enhanced items received greater visual attention, with longer reading times, less single word skipping and more rereading. Further, a positive relationship was found between amount of visual attention and learning odds: items fixated longer, particularly during the first pass, were more likely to be recalled in an immediate posttest. Our findings provide empirical support for the positive effect of visual attention on form recall of multiword units encountered in captioned television. The results also suggest that item difficulty and amount of attention were more important than textual enhancement in predicting learning gains.

scholarly journals What Are the Modulators of Cross-Language Syntactic Activation During Natural Reading?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Vingron ◽  
Pauline Palma ◽  
Jason W. Gullifer ◽  
Veronica Whitford ◽  
Deanna Friesen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Language Effects ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Language Activation ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Multiple Languages

Bilinguals juggle knowledge of multiple languages, including syntactic constructions that can mismatch (e.g., the red car, la voiture rouge; Mary sees it, Mary le voit). We used eye-tracking to examine whether French-English (n = 23) and English-French (n = 21) bilingual adults activate non-target language syntax during English L2 (Experiment 1) and L1 (Experiment 2) reading, and whether this differed from functionally monolingual English reading (Experiment 3, n = 26). People read English sentences containing syntactic constructions that were either partially shared across languages (adjective-noun constructions) or completely unshared (object-pronoun constructions). These constructions were presented in an intact form, or in a violated form that was French-consistent or French-inconsistent. For both L2 and L1 reading, bilinguals read French-consistent adjective-noun violations relatively quickly, suggesting cross-language activation. This did not occur when the same people read object-pronoun constructions manipulated in the same manner. Surprisingly, English readers exposed to French in their lifetime but functionally monolingual, also read French-consistent violations for adjective-noun constructions faster, particularly for some items. However, when we controlled for item differences in the L2 and L1 reading data, cross-language effects observed were similar to the original data pattern. Moreover, individual differences in L2 experience modulated both L2 and L1 reading for adjective-noun constructions, consistent with a cross-language activation interpretation of the data. These findings are consistent with the idea of syntactic cross-language activation during reading for some constructions. However, for several reasons, cross-language syntactic activation during comprehension may be overall more variable and challenging to investigate methodologically compared to past work on other forms of cross-language activation (i.e., single words).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document