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ERIC Number: EJ686985
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Mar
Pages: 36
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0023-8333
EISSN: N/A
A Syntactic Bias in Scope Ambiguity Resolution in the Processing of English-French Cardinality Interrogatives: Evidence for Informational Encapsulation
Dekydtspotter, Laurent; Outcalt, Samantha D.
Language Learning, v55 n1 p1-36 Mar 2005
This article presents a reading-time study of scope resolution in the interpretation of ambiguous cardinality interrogatives in English-French and in English and French native sentence processing. Participants were presented with a context, a self-paced segment-by-segment presentation of a cardinality interrogative, and a numerical answer that respondents either accepted or rejected. Very narrowly distributed and interpretation-dependent reading-time asymmetries arose in English-French processing and in French and English native processing. A syntactic account of scope resolution characterizes the reading-time asymmetries produced by English-French learners and differences between French and English native respondents. In contrast, a context-driven theory of scope resolution encounters many severe problems that render its plausibility exceedingly remote.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A