Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:20:03.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Understanding the symptoms and sources of variability in second language sentence processing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2016

ALISON GABRIELE ,
ROBERT FIORENTINO  and
LAUREN COVEY
ALISON GABRIELE*
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
ROBERT FIORENTINO
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
LAUREN COVEY
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
*
Address for correspondence: Alison Gabriele, University of Kansas, Linguistics Department, 1541 Lilac Lane, Blake Hall 427, Lawrence, KS 66045[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Cunnings (2016) proposes that differences between native (L1) and second language (L2) sentence processing can best be explained in terms of susceptibility to effects of interference and an overreliance on discourse level cues during memory retrieval. Cunnings’ argument that difficulty in retrieval operations may provide a better explanation than a syntactic deficit account for explaining certain L1-L2 differences is convincing. However, the proposal for the ‘overuse’ of discourse is too broad and needs to be refined in terms of the specific contexts and conditions under which learners have difficulty. We also believe that difficulty with cue-based retrieval is still a characterization of the symptoms of differences between L1-L2 processing, and does not necessarily address the source of the variability.

Type
Peer Commentaries
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 685 - 686
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cunnings, I. (2016). Parsing and Working Memory in Bilingual Sentence Processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.Google Scholar
Gabriele, A. Fiorentino, R., & Covey, L. (2015). Examining individual differences in the processing of pronominal reference using event-related potentials. Poster presented at the 7th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Neurobiology of Language. Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Nieuwland, M. S. & Van Berkum, J. J. A. (2006). Individual differences and contextual bias in pronoun resolution: Evidence from ERPs. Brain Research, 1118, 155–167.Google Scholar
Pan, H., Schimke, S., & Felser, C. (2015). Referential context effects in non-native relative clause ambiguity resolution. International Journal of Bilingualism, 19, 298–313.Google Scholar
Roberts, L., Gullberg, M., & Indefrey, P. (2008). Online pronoun resolution in L2 discourse: L1 influence and general learner effects. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30, 333–357.Google Scholar
Sparks, R. L. (2012). Individual differences in L2 learning and long‐term L1–L2 relationships. Language Learning, 62, 5–27.Google Scholar
Van Dyke, J. A., Johns, C. L., & Kukona, A. (2014). Low working memory capacity is only spuriously related to poor reading comprehension. Cognition, 131, 373–403.Google Scholar