ERIC Number: EJ1343537
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Aug
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0090-6905
EISSN: EISSN-1753-6555
Available Date: N/A
Binding Out of Relative Clauses in Native and Non-Native Sentence Comprehension
Felser, Claudia; Drummer, Janna-Deborah
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, v51 n4 p763-788 Aug 2022
Pronouns can sometimes covary with a non c-commanding quantifier phrase (QP). To obtain such 'telescoping' readings, a semantic representation must be computed in which the QP's semantic scope extends beyond its surface scope. Non-native speakers have been claimed to have more difficulty than native speakers deriving such non-isomorphic syntax-semantics mappings, but evidence from processing studies is scarce. We report the results from an eye-movement monitoring experiment and an offline questionnaire investigating whether native and non-native speakers of German can link personal pronouns to non c-commanding QPs inside relative clauses. Our results show that both participant groups were able to obtain telescoping readings offline, but only the native speakers showed evidence of forming telescoping dependencies during incremental parsing. During processing the non-native speakers focused on a discourse-prominent, non-quantified alternative antecedent instead. The observed group differences indicate that non-native comprehenders have more difficulty than native comprehenders computing scope-shifted representations in real time.
Descriptors: Form Classes (Languages), Native Language, Second Languages, Sentences, Semantics, Syntax, Eye Movements, German, Language Processing
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
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Data File: URL: https://osf.io/b3duv/
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