More Like this

1. Structural priming facilitates L2 learning of the dative alternation in Mandarin

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S027226312400041X  

   Zhu, Yanxin Alice; Grüter, Theres (September 2024, Studies in Second Language Acquisition)

   Abstract This study investigated whether structural priming, as a reflection of error-driven learning mechanisms, could facilitate second language (L2) learning of the dative alternation in Mandarin. We sought evidence of learning from both priming and acceptability judgment data. Participants were 25 native speakers and 41 classroom learners (CLs). After a priming session in which participants predicted and then saw what a virtual partner had written to describe pictures (prime trials, with only acceptable verb-dative pairings), CLs showed increased production of these acceptable pairings and increased acceptability ratings for them. The observation of such longer-term priming effects beyond the priming phase, together with an inverse frequency effect of priming observed among the CLs, aligns well with error-driven learning accounts. However, we did not find evidence for statistical preemption, in that participants did not decrease ratings for unacceptable pairings as a result of exposure to their competing alternatives. 

   more » « less
2. ERP sensitivity to subcategorization violations in L2 learners

   https://doi.org/10.1177/02676583231199426  

   Liao, Chia-Hsuan; Lau, Ellen (October 2023, Second Language Research)

   Event concepts of common verbs (e.g. eat, sleep) can be broadly shared across languages, but a given language’s rules for subcategorization are largely arbitrary and vary substantially across languages. When subcategorization information does not match between first language (L1) and second language (L2), how does this mismatch impact L2 speakers in real time? We hypothesized that subcategorization knowledge in L1 is particularly difficult for L2 speakers to override online. Event-related potential (ERP) responses were recorded from English sentences that include verbs that were ambitransitive in Mandarin but intransitive in English (*  My sister listened the music). While L1 English speakers showed a prominent P600 effect to subcategorization violations, L2 English speakers whose L1 was Mandarin showed some sensitivity in offline responses but not in ERPs. This suggests that computing verb–argument relations, although seemingly one of the basic components of sentence comprehension, in fact requires accessing lexical syntax which may be vulnerable to L1 interference in L2. However, our exploratory analysis showed that more native-like behavioral accuracy was associated with a more native-like P600 effect, suggesting that, with enough experience, L2 speakers can ultimately overcome this interference. 

   more » « less
3. From sounds to words: The relation between phonological and lexical processing of tone in L2 Mandarin

   https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658320941546  

   Ling, Wenyi; Grüter, Theres (July 2020, Second language research)

   null (Ed.)

   Successful listening in a second language (L2) involves learning to identify the relevant acoustic–phonetic dimensions that differentiate between words in the L2, and then use these cues to access lexical representations during real-time comprehension. This is a particularly challenging goal to achieve when the relevant acoustic–phonetic dimensions in the L2 differ from those in the L1, as is the case for the L2 acquisition of Mandarin, a tonal language, by speakers of non-tonal languages like English. Previous work shows tone in L2 is perceived less categorically (Shen and Froud, 2019) and weighted less in word recognition (Pelzl et al., 2019) than in L1. However, little is known about the link between categorical perception of tone and use of tone in real time L2 word recognition at the level of the individual learner. This study presents evidence from 30 native and 29 L1-English speakers of Mandarin who completed a real-time spoken word recognition and a tone identification task. Results show that L2 learners differed from native speakers in both the extent to which they perceived tone categorically as well as in their ability to use tonal cues to distinguish between words in real-time comprehension. Critically, learners who reliably distinguished between words differing by tone alone in the word recognition task also showed more categorical perception of tone on the identification task. Moreover, within this group, performance on the two tasks was strongly correlated. This provides the first direct evidence showing that the ability to perceive tone categorically is related to the weighting of tonal cues during spoken word recognition, thus contributing to a better understanding of the link between phonemic and lexical processing, which has been argued to be a key component in the L2 acquisition of tone (Wong and Perrachione, 2007). 

   more » « less
4. Coreference and discourse coherence in L2: The roles of grammatical aspect and referential form

   https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15011.gru  

   Grüter, Theres; Rohde, Hannah; Schafer, Amy J. (January 2017, Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism)

   Discourse-level factors, such as event structure and the form of referential expressions, play an important role in native speakers’ referential processing. This paper presents an experiment with Japanese- and Korean-speaking learners of English, investigating the extent to which discourse-level biases that have gradient effects in L1 speakers are also implicated in L2 speakers’ coreference choices. Results from a story continuation task indicate that biases involving referential form were remarkably similar for L1 and L2 speakers. In contrast, event structure, indicated by perfective versus imperfective aspect, had a more limited effect on L2 speakers’ referential choices. The L2 results are discussed in light of existing accounts of L1 reference processing, which assume that referential choices are shaped by speakers’ continually updated expectations about what is likely to be mentioned next, and argued to reflect L2 speakers’ reduced reliance on expectations. 

   more » « less
5. When event knowledge overrides word order in sentence comprehension: Learning a first language after childhood

   https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13073  

   Cheng, Qi; Mayberry, Rachel_I (January 2021, Developmental Science)

   Abstract Limited language experience in childhood is common among deaf individuals, which prior research has shown to lead to low levels of language processing. Although basic structures such as word order have been found to be resilient to conditions of sparse language input in early life, whether they are robust to conditions of extreme language delay is unknown. The sentence comprehension strategies of post‐childhood, first‐language (L1) learners of American Sign Language (ASL) with at least 9 years of language experience were investigated, in comparison to two control groups of learners with full access to language from birth (deaf native signers and hearing L2 learners who were native English speakers). The results of a sentence‐to‐picture matching experiment show that event knowledge overrides word order for post‐childhood L1 learners, regardless of the animacy of the subject, while both deaf native signers and hearing L2 signers consistently rely on word order to comprehend sentences. Language inaccessibility throughout early childhood impedes the acquisition of even basic word order. Similar to the strategies used by very young children prior to the development of basic sentence structure, post‐childhood L1 learners rely more on context and event knowledge to comprehend sentences. Language experience during childhood is critical to the development of basic sentence structure. 

   more » « less