Processing Preference Toward Object-Extracted Relative Clauses in Mandarin Chinese by L1 and L2 Speakers: An Eye-Tracking Study

Sung, Yao–Ting; Tu, Jung Yueh; Ho, Jih; Wu, Ming

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00004

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Some of the previous self-paced reading studies also revealed similar results (Gibson and Wu, 2013 ); namely, ORCs were read faster on the head noun than SRCs. More recent eye-tracking studies also showed a similar pattern (Sung et al, 2015 , 2016 ), reporting shorter gaze durations and less regressions on the head noun for ORCs than for SRCs.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…The evidence for ORC advantage in Chinese has been obtained from other methodologies, as well. In two eye-tracking studies (Sung et al, 2015 , 2016 ), less difficulty was consistently found in reading ORCs than SRCs by means of multiple eye-movements measures especially on the head noun. Neuropsychological results also indicated that ORCs were comprehended better than SRCs in aphasic patients of agrammatism and other types (Law, 2000 ; Law and Leung, 2000 ; Su et al, 2007 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Is There a Processing Preference for Object Relative Clauses in Chinese? Evidence From ERPs

Bulut

Cheng

et al. 2018

Front. Psychol.

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A consistent finding across head-initial languages, such as English, is that subject relative clauses (SRCs) are easier to comprehend than object relative clauses (ORCs). However, several studies in Mandarin Chinese, a head-final language, revealed the opposite pattern, which might be modulated by working memory (WM) as suggested by recent results from self-paced reading performance. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded when participants with high and low WM spans (measured by forward digit span and operation span tests) read Chinese ORCs and SRCs. The results revealed an N400-P600 complex elicited by ORCs on the relativizer, whose magnitude was modulated by the WM span. On the other hand, a P600 effect was elicited by SRCs on the head noun, whose magnitude was not affected by the WM span. These findings paint a complex picture of relative clause processing in Chinese such that opposing factors involving structural ambiguities and integration of filler-gap dependencies influence processing dynamics in Chinese relative clauses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Is There a Processing Preference for Object Relative Clauses in Chinese? Evidence From ERPs

Bulut

Cheng

et al. 2018

Front. Psychol.

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“…Since then, there have been numerous attempts to either refute these claims or provide support for the ORC advantage. Previous studies supporting an SRC advantage have used eye-tracking [ 17 ] and self-paced reading [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], and studies supporting an ORC advantage have used eye-tracking [ 21 , 22 ], event-related potentials [ 23 , 24 ], the maze task [ 25 ], and self-paced reading [ 26 , 27 , 28 ]. The amount of support for each claim using a variety of methods makes this issue highly contested.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ambiguity in the processing of Mandarin Chinese relative clauses: One factor cannot explain it all

et al. 2017

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This study addresses the question of whether native Mandarin Chinese speakers process and comprehend subject-extracted relative clauses (SRC) more readily than object-extracted relative clauses (ORC) in Mandarin Chinese. Presently, this has been a hotly debated issue, with various studies producing contrasting results. Using two eye-tracking experiments with ambiguous and unambiguous RCs, this study shows that both ORCs and SRCs have different processing requirements depending on the locus and time course during reading. The results reveal that ORC reading was possibly facilitated by linear/temporal integration and canonicity. On the other hand, similarity-based interference made ORCs more difficult, and expectation-based processing was more prominent for unambiguous ORCs. Overall, RC processing in Mandarin should not be broken down to a single ORC (dis)advantage, but understood as multiple interdependent factors influencing whether ORCs are either more difficult or easier to parse depending on the task and context at hand.

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“…Although ultimate attainment is still debated, recent studies have focused on comparison of native speakers vs. non-native speakers that were familiar with the language for a long time prior to the study (Meulman et al, 2015; Díaz et al, 2016; Hanna et al, 2016; Johnson et al, 2016; Sung et al, 2016). However, few of them used a technique that allowed for source localization (Hanna et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Event Related Field Study of Rapid Grammatical Plasticity in Adult Second-Language Learners

Bastarrika

Davidson

2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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The present study used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate how Spanish adult learners of Basque respond to morphosyntactic violations after a short period of training on a small fragment of Basque grammar. Participants (n = 17) were exposed to violation and control phrases in three phases (pretest, training, generalization-test). In each phase participants listened to short Basque phrases and they judged whether they were correct or incorrect. During the pre-test and generalization-test, participants did not receive any feedback. During the training blocks feedback was provided after each response. We also ran two Spanish control blocks before and after training. We analyzed the event-related magnetic- field (ERF) recorded in response to a critical word during all three phases. In the pretest, classification was below chance and we found no electrophysiological differences between violation and control stimuli. Then participants were explicitly taught a Basque grammar rule. From the first training block participants were able to correctly classify control and violation stimuli and an evoked violation response was present. Although the timing of the electrophysiological responses matched participants' L1 effect, the effect size was smaller for L2 and the topographical distribution differed from the L1. While the L1 effect was bilaterally distributed on the auditory sensors, the L2 effect was present at right frontal sensors. During training blocks two and three, the violation-control effect size increased and the topography evolved to a more L1-like pattern. Moreover, this pattern was maintained in the generalization test. We conclude that rapid changes in neuronal responses can be observed in adult learners of a simple morphosyntactic rule, and that native-like responses can be achieved at least in small fragments of second language.

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Processing Preference Toward Object-Extracted Relative Clauses in Mandarin Chinese by L1 and L2 Speakers: An Eye-Tracking Study

Cited by 12 publications

References 39 publications

Is There a Processing Preference for Object Relative Clauses in Chinese? Evidence From ERPs

Is There a Processing Preference for Object Relative Clauses in Chinese? Evidence From ERPs

Ambiguity in the processing of Mandarin Chinese relative clauses: One factor cannot explain it all

An Event Related Field Study of Rapid Grammatical Plasticity in Adult Second-Language Learners

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