Deeper than shallow: Evidence for structure-based parsing biases in second-language sentence processing

Jeffrey Witzel; Naoko Witzel; Janet Nicol

doi:10.1017/S0142716411000427

Deeper than shallow: Evidence for structure-based parsing biases in second-language sentence processing

Jeffrey Witzel, Naoko Witzel, Janet Nicol

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines the reading patterns of native speakers (NSs) and high-level (Chinese) nonnative speakers (NNSs) on three English sentence types involving temporarily ambiguous structural configurations. The reading patterns on each sentence type indicate that both NSs and NNSs were biased toward specific structural interpretations. These results are interpreted as evidence that both first-language and second-language (L2) sentence comprehension is guided (at least in part) by structure-based parsing strategies and, thus as counterevidence to the claim that NNSs are largely limited to rudimentary (or "shallow") syntactic computation during online L2 sentence processing.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	419-456
Number of pages	38
Journal	Applied Psycholinguistics
Volume	33
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716411000427
State	Published - Apr 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Language and Linguistics
Linguistics and Language
General Psychology

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10.1017/S0142716411000427

Cite this

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title = "Deeper than shallow: Evidence for structure-based parsing biases in second-language sentence processing",

abstract = "This study examines the reading patterns of native speakers (NSs) and high-level (Chinese) nonnative speakers (NNSs) on three English sentence types involving temporarily ambiguous structural configurations. The reading patterns on each sentence type indicate that both NSs and NNSs were biased toward specific structural interpretations. These results are interpreted as evidence that both first-language and second-language (L2) sentence comprehension is guided (at least in part) by structure-based parsing strategies and, thus as counterevidence to the claim that NNSs are largely limited to rudimentary (or {"}shallow{"}) syntactic computation during online L2 sentence processing.",

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note = "Funding Information: We are indebted to Stacey Claspill, Leslie Darnell, Katherine Plattner, and Devin St. John for assisting with data collection. This research was supported in part by a University of Arizona SBSRI Small Grant to J. Nicol. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing (Davis, CA, March 2009) and the L2 Processing and Parsing Conference: State of the Science (Lubbock, TX, May 2009).",

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N2 - This study examines the reading patterns of native speakers (NSs) and high-level (Chinese) nonnative speakers (NNSs) on three English sentence types involving temporarily ambiguous structural configurations. The reading patterns on each sentence type indicate that both NSs and NNSs were biased toward specific structural interpretations. These results are interpreted as evidence that both first-language and second-language (L2) sentence comprehension is guided (at least in part) by structure-based parsing strategies and, thus as counterevidence to the claim that NNSs are largely limited to rudimentary (or "shallow") syntactic computation during online L2 sentence processing.

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Deeper than shallow: Evidence for structure-based parsing biases in second-language sentence processing

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

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