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INTERMEDIATE TRACES AND INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS

Evidence for the Use of Intermediate Structure During Sentence Processing in Second Language French

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 November 2014

A. Kate Miller
A. Kate Miller*
Affiliation:
Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kate Miller, Department of World Languages, Cavanaugh Hall 539E, 425 University Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46202. E-mail: am27@iupui.edu
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Abstract

This study reports on a sentence processing experiment in second language (L2) French that looks for evidence of trace reactivation at clause edge and in the canonical object position in indirect object cleft sentences with complex embedding and cyclic movement. Reaction time (RT) asymmetries were examined among low (n = 20) and high (n = 20) intermediate L2 learners and native speakers (n = 15) of French in a picture-classification-during-reading task. The results show that a subgroup of learners (13 from the low intermediate and 9 from the high intermediate group) as well as the native speakers produced response patterns consistent with reactivation—with the shortest RTs for antecedent-matching probes presented concurrently with the gap—at clause edge, followed by a second reactivation in the canonical object position. This finding suggests that L2 learners may be able to process real-time input in nativelike ways, despite arguments set forth in previous research of this kind.

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Articles
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Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , September 2015 , pp. 487 - 516
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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