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We recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) while participants read sentences, some of which contained an anomalous word. In the critical sentences (e.g., The meal was devouring. . .), the syntactic cues unambiguously signaled an Agent interpretation of the subject noun, whereas the semantic cues supported a Theme interpretation. An Agent interpretation would render the main verb semantically anomalous (as meals do not devour things). Conversely, the Theme interpretation would render the main verb syntactically anomalous (as the -ED form, not the -ING form, is syntactically appropriate for this interpretation). We report that the main verbs in such sentences elicit the P600 effect associated with syntactic anomalies, rather than the N400 effect associated with semantic anomalies. We conclude that, at least under certain conditions, semantic information is ''in control'' of how words are combined during sentence processing.

Event-related potentials were recorded from 13 scalp locations while participants read sentences containing a syntactic ambiguity. In Experiment 1, syntactically disambiguating words that were inconsistent with the "favored" syntactic analysis elicited a positive-going brain potential (P600). Experiment 2 examined whether syntactic ambiguities are resolved by application of a phrasestructure-based minimal attachment principle or by word-specific subcategorization information. P600 amplitude was a function of subcategorization biases rather than syntactic complexity. These findings indicate that such biases exist and can influence the paper under certain conditions and that P600 amplitude is a function of the perceived syntactic well-formedness of the sentence. One set of fundamental questions about language comprehension concerns the-psychological processes underlying the syntactic analysis of sentences. It is generally (although not universally) agreed that comprehenders rapidly assign syntactic structure in real time, that is, on a word-byword basis (Frazier, 1987; Frazier & Rayner, 1982; Marslen-Wilson, 1980; Rayner, Carlson, & Frazier, 1983). However, there is far less agreement concerning the means by which the comprehension system accomplishes this task. Two distinct approaches dominate the recent literature. One approach, the structure-driven model, holds that initial decisions concerning sentence structure are determined by reference to knowledge concerning possible constituent structures (often characterized as a set of phrase structure rules) combined with knowledge of the major syntactic categories of words in the sentence (e.g., noun, verb, preposition; for a review, see Frazier, 1987). A second approach, the lexically driven model, holds that initial hypotheses about sentence structure are driven by knowledge of the complement-taking properties of verbs in the sentence (Fodor,

Adult second-language (L2) learning is often claimed to be slow and laborious compared to native language (L1) acquisition, but little is known about the rate of L2 word learning. Here we report that adult second-language learners' brain activity, as measured by event-related potentials (ERPs), discriminated between L2 words and L2 'pseudowords' (word-like letter strings) after just 14 h of classroom instruction. This occurred even while the learners performed at chance levels when making overt L2 word-nonword judgments, indicating that the early acquisition of some aspects of a new language may be overlooked by current behavioral assessments.

Research on the neurobiology of second language (L2) learning has historically focused on localization questions and relied on cross-sectional designs. Here, we describe an alternative paradigm involving longitudinal studies of adult, novice learners who are progressing through an introductory sequence of classroom-based L2 instruction. The goal of this paradigm is to determine how much L2 exposure is needed before learners incorporate L2 knowledge into their online comprehension processes, as reflected in scalp-recorded event-related brain potentials. Our preliminary studies show that some, but not all, aspects of the

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Here we report findings from a cross-sectional study of morphosyntactic processing in native German speakers and native English speakers enrolled in college-level German courses. Event-related brain potentials were recorded while participants read sentences that were either well-formed or violated German subject–verb agreement. Results showed that grammatical violations elicited large P600 effects in the native Germans and learners enrolled in third-year courses. Grand mean waveforms for learners enrolled in first-year courses showed a biphasic N400–P600 response. However, subsequent correlation analyses revealed that most individuals showed either an N400 or a P600, but not both, and that brain response type was associated with behavioral measures of grammatical sensitivity. These results support models of second language acquisition which implicate qualitative changes in the neural substrates of second language grammar processing associated with learning. Importantly, we show that new insights into L2 learning result when the cross-subject variability is treated as a source of evidence rather than a source of noise.