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Limits on expectation-based processing: Use of grammatical aspect for co-reference in L2

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2020

Theres Grüter Open the ORCID record for Theres Grüter [Opens in a new window]  and
Hannah Rohde
Theres Grüter*
Affiliation:
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Hannah Rohde
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

This study examines the use of discourse-level information to create expectations about reference in real-time processing, testing whether patterns previously observed among native speakers of English generalize to nonnative speakers. Findings from a visual-world eye-tracking experiment show that native (L1; N = 53) but not nonnative (L2; N = 52) listeners’ proactive coreference expectations are modulated by grammatical aspect in transfer-of-possession events. Results from an offline judgment task show these L2 participants did not differ from L1 speakers in their interpretation of aspect marking on transfer-of-possession predicates in English, indicating it is not lack of linguistic knowledge but utilization of this knowledge in real-time processing that distinguishes the groups. English proficiency, although varying substantially within the L2 group, did not modulate L2 listeners’ use of grammatical aspect for reference processing. These findings contribute to the broader endeavor of delineating the role of prediction in human language processing in general, and in the processing of discourse-level information among L2 users in particular.

Keywords

aspectexpectationseye trackingpredictionreference
Type
Original Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 51 - 75
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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