scholarly journals The missing-VP effect in readers of English as a second language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan L. Frank ◽  
Patty Ernst ◽  
Robin L. Thompson ◽  
Rein Cozijn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Reading Difficulty ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
High Exposure ◽  
Verb Phrases ◽  
Embedded Clauses

AbstractEnglish sentences with double center-embedded clauses are read faster when they are made ungrammatical by removing one of the required verb phrases. This phenomenon is known as the missing-VP effect. German and Dutch speakers do not experience the missing-VP effect when reading their native language, but they do when reading English as a second language (L2). We investigate whether the missing-VP effect when reading L2 English occurs in native Dutch speakers because their knowledge of English is similar to that of native English speakers (the high exposure account), or because of the difficulty of L2 reading (the low proficiency account). In an eye-tracking study, we compare the size of the missing-VP effect between native Dutch and native English participants, and across native Dutch participants with varying L2 English proficiency and exposure. Results provide evidence for both accounts, suggesting that both native-like knowledge of English and L2 reading difficulty play a role.

scholarly journals The missing-VP effect in readers of English as a second language

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan L. Frank ◽  
Patty Ernst ◽  
Robin Thompson ◽  
Rein Cozijn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Reading Difficulty ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Verb Phrases ◽  
Embedded Clauses

English sentences with double center-embedded clauses are read faster when they are made ungrammatical by removing one of the required verb phrases. This phenomenon is known as the missing-VP effect. German and Dutch speakers do not experience the missing-VP effect when reading their native language, but they do when reading English as a second language (L2). We investigate whether the missing-VP effect when reading L2 English occurs in native Dutch speakers because their knowledge of English is similar to that of native English speakers, or because of the difficulty of L2 reading. In an eye-tracking study, we compare the size of the missing-VP effect between native Dutch and native English participants, and across native Dutch participants with varying L2 English proficiency and exposure. Results provide evidence for both accounts, suggesting that both native-like knowledge of English and L2 reading difficulty play a role.

ARTICULATORY TIMING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Zsiga
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Word Boundaries ◽  
Learning English

This study compares patterns of consonant-to-consonant timing at word boundaries in English and Russian and investigates the roles of transfer and the emergence of linguistic universals in second language (L2) articulation. Native Russian speakers learning English and native English speakers learning Russian produced phrases in English and Russian contrasting VC#CV, VC#V, and V#CV sequences. The duration of all stop closures was measured as well as the percentage of consonant sequences in which the first consonant was audibly released. In their native language (L1), Russian speakers had a higher percentage of released final consonants than did English speakers in their L1 as well as a higher ratio of sequence-to-singleton duration. Examination of the timing patterns across different clusters revealed different articulatory strategies for the two languages. The native Russian pattern transferred to L2 English, but the native English pattern did not transfer to L2 Russian. Evidence was found for both articulatory transfer and the emergence of a default pattern of articulation, characteristic of neither L1 nor L2.

Impact of Cyrillic on Native English Speakers’ Phono-lexical Acquisition of Russian

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. Showalter
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Lexical Acquisition ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Pictures And Words ◽  
Lexical Learning

We investigated the influence of grapheme familiarity and native language grapheme–phoneme correspondences during second language lexical learning. Native English speakers learned Russian-like words via auditory presentations containing only familiar first language phones, pictured meanings, and exposure to either Cyrillic orthographic forms (Orthography condition) or the sequence <XXX> (No Orthography condition). Orthography participants saw three types of written forms: familiar-congruent (e.g., <KOM>-[kom]), familiar-incongruent (e.g., <PAT>-[rɑt]), and unfamiliar (e.g., <ФИЛ>-[fil]). At test, participants determined whether pictures and words matched according to what they saw during word learning. All participants performed near ceiling in all stimulus conditions, except for Orthography participants on words containing incongruent grapheme–phoneme correspondences. These results suggest that first language grapheme–phoneme correspondences can cause interference during second language phono-lexical acquisition. In addition, these results suggest that orthographic input effects are robust enough to interfere even when the input does not contain novel phones.

Effects of reading speed on second-language sentence processing

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDITH KAAN ◽  
JOCELYN C. BALLANTYNE ◽  
FRANK WIJNEN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Language Conflict

ABSTRACTTo test the effects of reading speed on second-language (L2) sentence processing and the potential influence of conflicting native language word order, we compared advanced L2 learners of English with native English speakers on a self-paced reading task. L2 learners read faster overall than native English speakers. When differences in reading speed were controlled for, L2 learners were as sensitive to grammaticality manipulations as native English speakers. On-line reading times did not reflect any effect of cross-language conflict in the learners. Results from an end-of-sentence verification task showed a stronger bias toward a subject–object order in the cross-language conflict conditions in speed-matched L2 learners but not in L2 learners reading faster than native speakers. Results are compatible with hypothesized differences in resource allocation between L2 and native language processing.

Grammaticality judgments in a second language: Influences of age of acquisition and native language

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
JANET L. MCDONALD
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
General Problem ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Surface Form ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments

Native Spanish early and late acquirers of English as well as native Vietnamese early and child acquirers of English made grammaticality judgments of sentences in their second language. Native Spanish early acquirers were not distinguishable from native English speakers, whereas native Spanish late acquirers had difficulty with all aspects of the grammar tested except word order. Native Vietnamese early acquirers had difficulty with those aspects of English that differ markedly from Vietnamese. Native Vietnamese child acquirers had more generalized problems, similar to those of native Spanish late acquirers. Thus, native language appeared to make a difference for early acquirers, whereas a later age of acquisition caused a more general problem. A processing-based model focusing on the difficulty non-native language learners have in rapidly decoding surface form is offered as a possible explanation for both effects.

scholarly journals PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSING OF STRESS BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS LEARNING SPANISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Ramsés Ortín ◽  
Miquel Simonet
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Recall Task ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L1 English ◽  
Processing Stress

Abstract One feature of Spanish that presents some difficulties to second language (L2) learners whose first language (L1) is English concerns lexical stress. This study explores one aspect of the obstacle these learners face, weak phonological processing routines concerning stress inherited from their native language. Participants were L1 English L2 learners of Spanish. The experiment was a sequence-recall task with auditory stimuli minimally contrasting in stress (target) or segmental composition (baseline). The results suggest that learners are more likely to accurately recall sequences with stimuli contrasting in segmental composition than stress, suggesting reduced phonological processing of stress relative to a processing baseline. Furthermore, an increase in proficiency—assessed by means of grammatical and lexical tests—was found to be modestly associated with an increase in the accuracy of processing stress. We conclude that the processing routines of native English speakers lead to an acquisitional obstacle when learning Spanish as a L2.

scholarly journals Helping Second Language Student Writers Improve Their Revision

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Wenzhe Kang ◽  
Ruiyi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Language Students

Writing ability is a comprehensive evaluation of language learning level. Nowadays, most universities offer writing-related courses to help students lay a good foundation for writing and contribute to their subsequent studies. Compared with native English speakers, second language learners need to do more revision, which is a great challenge for second language learners. Therefore, in this paper, the aim is to make the second language students understand and apply the revision correctly.    

Some cases of linguistic interference in Bulgarian in English-Bulgarian bilingual children and english native speakers learning Bulgarian as a second language

Proglas ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iliyana Dimitrova ◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Linguistic Interference ◽  
Children's Speech

he study examines some linguistic errors in the process of learning Bulgarian by Bulgarian-English bilingual children and by native English speakers who study Bulgarian as a second language. The emphasis is on some typical interference errors which are common (identical) for both the bilingual children’s speech and the speech of native English speakers learning Bulgarian as a second language. Based on the analyzed aberration corpus, the opinion we give is that many of the processes taking place during the acquisition of the Bulgarian language are the same for both bilingual children with English and native English speakers.

Second language learning of phonological alternations with and without orthographic input: Evidence from the acquisition of a German-like voicing alternation

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-545
Author(s):  
Shannon L. Barrios ◽  
Rachel Hayes-Harb
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
New Words ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Naming Test

AbstractWhile a growing body of research investigates the influence of orthographic input on the acquisition of second language (L2) segmental contrasts, few studies have examined its influence on the acquisition of L2 phonological processes. Hayes-Harb, Brown, and Smith (2018) showed that exposure to words’ written forms caused native English speakers to misremember the voicing of final obstruents in German-like words exemplifying voicing neutralization. However, they did not examine participants’ acquisition of the final devoicing process. To address this gap, we conducted two experiments wherein native English speakers (assigned to Orthography or No Orthography groups) learned German-like words in suffixed and unsuffixed forms, and later completed a picture naming test. Experiment 1 investigated learners’ knowledge of the surface voicing of obstruents in both final and nonfinal position, and revealed that while all participants produced underlyingly voiced obstruents as voiceless more often in final than nonfinal position, the difference was only significant for No Orthography participants. Experiment 2 investigated participants’ ability to apply the devoicing process to new words, and provided no evidence of generalization. Together these findings shed light on the acquisition of final devoicing by naïve adult learners, as well as the influence of orthographic input in the acquisition of a phonological alternation.

How native and non-native English speakers adapt to humor in intercultural interaction

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy D Bell
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Intercultural Interaction ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Negative Message ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

AbstractHumor can often carry an implicit negative message and thus be potentially dangerous to use. In addition, it is culturally and linguistically complex and sophisticated. Because of these things, it poses a challenge for L2 (second language) speakers and we might expect to see attempts at humor failing and causing offense in intercultural interaction. This paper reports on a study that examined humor in interaction between native and non-native speakers of English and found that humor did not seem to be a cause of conflict because of adjustments speakers made to their speech and their situated interpretations of meaning. In general, taboo topics and potentially dangerous forms of humor were avoided and humor was carefully contextualized. Native speakers reported being careful about the vocabulary they used in creating humor and both sides appeared to approach humor in intercultural communication prepared to accommodate the other and with an attitude of leniency.

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