The Effect of Second Language Proficiency for Chinese-English Bilingualisms on the Processing Strategy of English wh-Questions

Abstract

Abstract: This study investigated the processing of English wh-questions by high proficiency and low proficiency Chinese learners of English as a second language. Performance was evaluated in relation to parsing strategies and sensitivity to plausibility constraints by a stop making sense task. The result showed that only high proficiency subjects were using Filler-driven Strategy, but low proficiency subjects did not useit. Some evidences showed that they were likely to use the Gap as last resort strategy. And high proficiency could utilize semantic information (plausiblity constraints) to adjust parsing process, as shown by a reduction in the garden-path effect when the filler was implausible as the direct object of the verb, however the low proficiency subjects were totally immune from the plausibility constraints, which probably caused by the low working memory of English and the applying of Gap as last resort strategy.

Key words: wh-questions, second language learner, second language proficiency, filler-driven strategy, gap as last resort strategy

摘要： 选取大学英语专业的高熟练度双语者与非英语专业的低熟练度双语者作为被试，利用自控速度阅读与生成意义即止任务，探讨了母语为汉语的高熟练度双语者和低熟练度双语者对英语wh疑问句的加工策略。通过分析反应时和不合理判断率，发现高熟练度双语者采用了填充驱动策略，对句子的加工易受句子合理性的影响。低熟练度双语者则采用了最后间隙策略，同时对句子合理性限制完全免疫，这可能与其工作记忆容量较小或者是二语的熟练程度偏低有关，说明二语熟练度在一定程度上会对双语者加工wh-疑问句产生影响。

关键词: wh疑问句, 双语者, 二语熟练度, 填充驱动策略, 最后间隙策略

CLC Number:

B842.5

CHANG Xin, HE Jing, WANG Pei. The Effect of Second Language Proficiency for Chinese-English Bilingualisms on the Processing Strategy of English wh-Questions[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2017, 15(5): 599-605.

常欣, 何晶, 王沛. 二语熟练度对汉-英二语者英语wh疑问句加工策略的影响[J]. 心理与行为研究, 2017, 15(5): 599-605.

References

约翰内斯-恩格尔坎普. (1997). 心理语言学 (陈国鹏译). 上海: 上海译文出版社.
Boland, J. E., Tanenhaus, M. K., Garnsey, S. M., & Carlson, G. N. (1995). Verb argument structure in parsing and interpretation: Evidence from wh-questions. Journal of Memory and Language, 34(6), 774-806.
Clahsen, H., & Felser, C. (2006a). Grammatical processing in language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27(1), 3-42.
Clahsen, H., & Felser, C. (2006b). How native-like is non-native language processing? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(12), 564-570.
Frenck-Mestre, C.(2002). An on-line look at sentence processing in the second language. In R. R. Herridia & J. Altarriba (Eds.), Bilingual sentence processing (pp. 218-236). The Netherlands: North Holland.
Friedmann, N., Belletti, A., & Rizzi, L. (2009). Relativized relatives: Types of intervention in the acquisition of a-bar dependencies. Lingua, 119(1), 67-88.
Friederici, A. D., Rüschemeyer, S. A., Hahne, A., & Fiebach, C. J. (2003). The role of left inferior frontal and superior temporal cortex in sentence comprehension: Localizing syntactic and semantic processes. Cerebral Cortex, 13(2), 170-177.
Hopp, H. (2006). Syntactic features and reanalysis in near-native processing. Second Language Research, 22(3), 369-397.
Hsin, A. L. C. (2012). The acquisition of English complementizers in canonical vs. noncanonical structures. Taiwan Journal of TESOL, 9(2), 95-141.
Jackson, C. (2008). Proficiency level and the interaction of lexical and morphosyntactic information during l2 sentence processing. Language Learning, 58(4), 875-909.
Jiang, N. (2007). Selective integration of linguistic knowledge in adult second language learning. Language Learning, 57(1), 1-33.
Juffs, A., & Harrington, M. (1995). Parsing effects in second language sentence processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 17(4), 483-516.
Juffs, A. (2005). The influence of first language on the processing of wh-movement in English as a second language. Second Language Research, 21(2), 121-151.
King, J. W., & Kutas, M. (1995). Who did what and when? Using word- and clause-level ERPs to monitor working memory usage in reading. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 7(3), 376-395.
Lewis, R. L., & Vasishth, S. (2005). An activation-based model of sentence processing as skilled memory retrieval. Cognitive Science, 29(3), 375-419.
Mikhailov, R. (2014). Homotopical and combinatorial aspects of the theory of normal series in groups. Proceedings of the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, 286(S1), 1-135.
Papadopoulou, D., & Clahsen, H. (2003). Parsing strategies in L1 and L2 sentence processing: A study of relative clause attachment in Greek. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25(4), 501-528.
Pearlmutter, N. J., & MacDonald, M. C. (1995). Individual differences and probabilistic constraints in syntactic ambiguity resolution. Journal of Memory and Language, 34(4), 521-542.
Omaki, A., & Schulz, B. (2011). Filler-gap dependencies and island constraints in second-language sentence processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33(4), 563-588.
Staub, A. (2010). Eye movements and processing difficulty in object relative clauses. Cognition, 116(1), 71-86.
Tsimpli, I. M., & Dimitrakopoulou, M. (2007). The interpretability hypothesis: Evidence from wh-interrogatives in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 23(2), 215-242.
Wanner, E., & Maratsos, M.(1978). An ATN approach to comprehension. In M. Halle, J. Bresnan, & G. A. Miller (Eds.), Linguistic theory and psychological reality. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.
Williams, J. N., Möbius, P., & Kim, C. (2001). Native and non-native processing of English wh-questions: Parsing strategies and plausibility constraints. Applied Psycholinguistics, 22, 509-540.
Xiang, M., Dillon, B., Wagers, M., Liu, F. Q., & Guo, T. M. (2014). Processing covert dependencies: An SAT study on mandarin wh-in-situ questions. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 23(2), 207-232.
Yang, F., Mo, L., & Louwerse, M. M. (2013). Effects of local and global context on processing sentences with subject and object relative clauses. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 42(3), 227-237.

[1]	KANG Tinghu, WANG Nizhuan, GAO Wuping. The Influence of Protagonist Shifting on the Updating of the Situation Model in Narrative Reading [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2020, 18(1): 1-7.
[2]	NI Yakun, ZHAO Junzhe, LI Qiaoling, GUO Tengfei, WANG Minghui. An ERP Study on Intertemporal Choice Differences Between High and Low Procrastinators [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(6): 831-839.
[3]	WANG Ting, WANG Dan, ZHANG Jijia. Dissociation of Implicit and Explicit Systems of Theory of Mind: Evidence from Mandarin-English Bilinguals and Cantonese-Mandarin Diglossias [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(4): 442-451.
[4]	LIU Zhifang, CHEN Chaoyang, TONG Wen, SU Heng. Character order encoding influence on word identification in Chinese reading: Evidence from eye movements [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(3): 304-310.
[5]	CHEN Baoguo, ZHANG Yuanyue, MA Tengfei. The Effect of Word Exposure Frequency and Proficiency on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition in High Constraint Sentence Context [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(2): 153-159.
[6]	SUN Erhong, ZHANG Qirui, ZHANG Jijia. Impact of Calligraphy Style and Color on Comprehension of Importance in Chinese Idiom [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(2): 160-169.
[7]	HAO Haiping, FAN Ning. The Effect of Response Mode on the Space-Time Congruency Effect [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(2): 178-184.
[8]	PAN Ying, DENG Xiaoping, LIN Zhengjun, LIU Yan. A Meta-analysis of the Relationship between Chinese Students' English Phonological Awareness and Reading Achievements [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(2): 229-239.
[9]	ZHAO Shuai, LU Shiyi, CHEN Jing, LU Zhixuan, KUANG Liuxing, DENG Yujun, FU Chen. L1 Korean L2 Chinese Learners' Processing of V+N1+de+N2: An Eye Movement Research [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(1): 15-23.
[10]	YU Miao, DING Tongfei. The Effect of Tone Duration on Chinese Word Recognition [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(1): 24-30.
[11]	ZHAO Bingjie, WANG Yongsheng, CHEN Mingjing, LI Xin, YAN Guoli, BAI Xuejun. The Processing of Morpheme and Lexical of two-character Affects the Selection of Saccade Target During Chinese Reading [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2018, 16(6): 721-734.
[12]	ZHAO Liming, LIAN Yuan, LI Weijun. Development of Lexical Planning Scope in Speech Production: Evidence from Primary, Middle School and Undergraduate Students [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2018, 16(6): 735-743.
[13]	JI Yuzhu, ZHANG Yiwei, BI Hongyan. The Visual Magnocellular-dorsal Pathway Function in Chinese Children with Developmental Dyslexia [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2018, 16(5): 577-582.
[14]	ZHANG Manli, MENG Xiangzhi, ZHENG Xiaobei. The Temporal Processing Deficit in Chinese Children with Developmental Dyslexia: Evidence from Perceptual Learning Studies [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2018, 16(5): 583-593,623.
[15]	BAI Xuejun, ZHANG Mingzhe, MENG Hongxia, TAN Ke, WANG Wen. The Effects of Word Segmentation on Chinese Developmental Dyslexia: A comparison in Oral and Silent Sentence Reading [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2018, 16(5): 594-602.