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ERIC Number: EJ1328133
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1048-9223
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Look at That: Spatial Deixis Reveals Experience-Related Differences in Prediction
Reuter, Tracy; Sullivan, Mia; Lew-Williams, Casey
Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, v29 n1 p1-26 2022
Prediction-based theories posit that interlocutors use prediction to process language efficiently and to coordinate dialogue. The present study evaluated whether listeners can use spatial deixis (i.e., "this," "that," "these," and "those") to predict the plurality and proximity of a speaker's upcoming referent. In two eye-tracking experiments with varying referential complexity (N = 168), native English-speaking adults, native English-learning 5-year-olds, and nonnative English-learning adults viewed images while listening to sentences with or without informative deictic determiners, e.g., "Look at the/this/that/these/those wonderful cookie(s)." Results showed that all groups successfully exploited plurality information. However, they varied in using deixis to anticipate the proximity of the referent; specifically, L1 adults showed more robust prediction than L2 adults, and L1 children did not show evidence of prediction. By evaluating listeners with varied language experiences, this investigation helps refine proposed mechanisms of prediction and suggests that linguistic experience is key to the development of such mechanisms.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New Jersey
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01HD095912; R03HD079779; DGE1656466
Author Affiliations: N/A