ERIC Number: EJ1152471
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Sep
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0272-2631
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Transitivity in the Process of Intransitive Clauses: A Category-Based Prediction in Low-Intermediate Learners of English
Dekydtspotter, Laurent; Seo, Hyun-Kyoung
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, v39 n3 p527-552 Sep 2017
We document weak garden paths after intransitive verbs, modulated by intransitivity type, in the treatment of DP[subscript 1] V[subscript intransitive] DP[subscript 2] V[subscript 2] sequences as in "As the journalist arrived the editor postponed the meeting" in first language (L1) and second language (L2) sentence processing. In a noncumulative moving-window experiment, 25 English native speakers and 22 low-intermediate Korean learners of English with no naturalistic exposure read critical items in which a subordinate clause was either headed by an intransitive verb (unaccusative vs. unergative) or by a copular predicate. A linear mixed model revealed greater processing loads evidenced in longer reading times on V[subscript 2] after intransitive verbs than after copular predicates. This finding echoes post hoc observations in Juffs (2004). These asymmetries were driven by significantly greater loads after unaccusative verbs than after copular predicates and unergative verbs. These asymmetries, found in both L1 and L2, are unexpected on the basis of valence information only, as one-place predicates should rule out a second argument. However, we argue that they receive an explanation if parsing involves the interaction of lexically encoded intransitivity information with a transitivity prediction.
Descriptors: Phrase Structure, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Language Processing, Sentences, Korean, Native Language, Linguistic Theory, English, Verbs, Reading Rate, Prediction, Psycholinguistics, Language Research, Task Analysis, Foreign Countries, College Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
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Language: English
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Identifiers - Location: Indiana; South Korea
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