ERIC Number: EJ897973
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Oct
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-7164
EISSN: N/A
Animacy Affects the Processing of Subject-Object Ambiguities in the Second Language: Evidence from Self-Paced Reading with German Second Language Learners of Dutch
Jackson, Carrie N.; Roberts, Leah
Applied Psycholinguistics, v31 n4 p671-691 Oct 2010
The results of a self-paced reading study with German second language (L2) learners of Dutch showed that noun animacy affected the learners' on-line commitments when comprehending relative clauses in their L2. Earlier research has found that German L2 learners of Dutch do not show an on-line preference for subject-object word order in temporarily ambiguous relative clauses when no disambiguating material is available prior to the auxiliary verb. We investigated whether manipulating the animacy of the ambiguous noun phrases would push the learners to make an on-line commitment to either a subject- or object-first analysis. Results showed they performed like Dutch native speakers in that their reading times reflected an interaction between topichood and animacy in the on-line assignment of grammatical roles.
Descriptors: Nouns, Second Language Learning, Language Processing, Word Order, German, Native Speakers, Indo European Languages, Phrase Structure, Verbs, Reading Comprehension, Figurative Language, Language Research, Role, Grammar, Independent Study, Electronic Learning
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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