35.481, Review: The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax: Sprouse (ed.) (2023)

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Subject: 35.481, Review: The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax: Sprouse (ed.) (2023)

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Date: 11-Feb-2024
From: Alexander Holmberg [ajh863 at nau.edu]
Subject: Applied Linguistics, Morphology, Psycholinguistics, Syntax: Sprouse (ed.) (2023)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/34.2127

EDITOR: Jon Sprouse
TITLE: The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press
YEAR: 2023

REVIEWER: Alexander Holmberg

SUMMARY

This book, “The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax,” is edited by
Jon Sprouse. It provides an overview of experimental syntax from
different perspectives, with chapters being written by different
researchers and authors. The book contains four parts, which include
17 content chapters, an annotated bibliography at the end of each
part, and an 18th chapter, which acts as a reflection on the future of
the field from the various contributors to the book.

Part 1 of the book contains four chapters, which revolve around
judgment methods in Syntactic Theory.

The first chapter, “Acceptability Judgements,” by Jon Sprouse,
explores the reliability and validity of informally collected
judgments in building syntactic theories. The chapter revolves around
concerns such as small sample sizes, lexical factors, and theoretical
biases impacting data quality. The chapter also discusses the
challenge of validation of cognitive properties like acceptability.
The chapter delves into formal judgment experiments, examining the
nuances of various tasks (rating, categorization, selection) and their
optimization. It emphasizes the role of experimental design in
isolating factors influencing acceptability judgments and highlights
the value of formal experiments in testing predictions beyond
acceptability. The chapter concludes that acceptability judgments,
central to generative syntactic theory, remain crucial, with formal
experimental methods offering precision and the potential for
exploring theoretical questions. The true potential of these methods
is deemed to be just the beginning, challenging upcoming generations
of syntacticians to advance the frontiers of syntactic theory.

Chapter 2, "Acceptability Judgments of Binding and Coreference
(Methodological considerations)," by Elsi Kaiser and Jeffrey Runner,
navigates methodological intricacies in collecting acceptability
judgments for binding and coreference, central to syntactic theory. It
differentiates these judgments from general grammaticality assessments
and introduces a significant experiment showcasing non-syntacticians'
reliability in providing judgments. The chapter explores diverse
methods for judgment elicitation, from binary questions to Magnitude
Estimation, and details techniques for indicating coreference
relations. It introduces scene verification and picture selection,
utilizing visual context to assess specific readings and preferences,
offering complementary insights. The chapter concludes by outlining
future directions, including cross-linguistic inquiries and addressing
underexplored phenomena, enriching our understanding of coreference
through experimental research.

Chapter 3, "(Quantifier) Scope Judgments," by Kriszta Eszter Szendroi,
investigates quantifier scope judgments, focusing on sentences with
quantifiers and operators that create scope reading ambiguities. The
chapter debates whether these ambiguities should be represented in
both syntax and semantics. It explores various aspects, including
quantifier scope interactions, challenges in determining semantic
ambiguity, and the role of prosody in disambiguation. The chapter
reviews psycholinguistic evidence, theoretical considerations, and
experiments on adults and children, revealing an overt (surface) scope
preference. It introduces the Parser Hypothesis, suggesting intrinsic
preferences for overt scope in both children and adults. The
Incremental Verification Task supports an early parsing bias for overt
scope in adults, prompting considerations of task-specific effects and
reproducibility. Extra-linguistic factors, such as verification
procedures and the Semantic Subset Principle, are discussed, shedding
light on the cognitive processes involved in language comprehension.
The chapter concludes by emphasizing the need for future research,
addressing methodological challenges, and considering linguistic and
extra-linguistic factors for a comprehensive understanding of scope
ambiguities in psycholinguistics and language acquisition.

Chapter 4, "Experimental Syntax and Linguistic Fieldwork," by Maria
Polinsky, explores the relationship between linguistic fieldwork and
experimental syntax, noting shared goals with methodological
differences. It highlights challenges in small populations and
endangered languages, emphasizing distinct participant recruitment and
data collection. The chapter advocates multidisciplinary
collaboration. The chapter discusses conceptual issues and running
experiments in fieldwork settings, cautioning against unwarranted
experiments. The chapter concludes by rejecting the notion of
insurmountable differences, emphasizing the rewarding nature of
applying experimental approaches to lesser-known languages and the
importance of understanding language structure in both disciplines. It
stresses collaborative interdisciplinary teamwork for successful
outcomes.

In Part 2 of "The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax," four more
chapters (5-8) focus on language acquisition in Syntactic Theory.

Chapter 5, titled "Behavioral Acquisition Methods with Infants," by
Laurel Perkins and Jeffrey Lidz, focuses on the challenges and
prospects of studying children's syntactic development in infancy. The
traditional method of studying children's syntax through analyses of
produced sentences is critiqued for its limitations, including issues
related to sampling, working memory, and the delay between
comprehension and production. To overcome these limitations, the
chapter explores the use of measures of comprehension and attention in
infants' grammar growth, involving eye movements, looking time, or
listening time. The three key areas of investigation are the
acquisition of syntactic categories, early phrase structure
representations, and grammatical dependencies. The authors conclude by
underscoring the value of syntactic bootstrapping, where infants use
syntactic information to infer word meanings and highlight the
potential contributions of studying infants' sensitivities to
achieving a deeper comprehension of language acquisition. The
exploration of these syntactic acquisition processes in infancy offers
insights into the fundamental mechanisms underlying language
development.

Chapter 6, "Behavioral Acquisition Methods with Preschool-Age
Children," by Kristen Syrett, provides an in-depth exploration of
syntactic development in children aged 3 to 6 years. Building upon the
foundation of the preceding chapter focusing on infants, this chapter
delves into the acquisition of complex syntactic structures. The text
emphasizes the sophisticated syntactic competence exhibited by
preschoolers, challenging assumptions of immature grammar
contributions. Methodologies for assessing syntactic knowledge become
more diverse, with a spotlight on comprehension and acceptability
judgments over production. The chapter explores three main areas:
knowledge of individual words, interpretation of syntactic
constructions, and constraints on overt and covert movement. It also
reveals that experimental findings demonstrate that preschoolers often
exhibit syntactic competence comparable to that of adults, though
performance differences exist. The chapter concludes with key insights
into syntactic development, highlighting the intricate interconnection
of syntax with semantics and pragmatics in language acquisition. The
chapter calls for nuanced methodologies to unravel preschoolers'
syntactic knowledge and further our understanding of language
development.

Chapter 7, "Modeling Syntactic Acquisition," by Lisa S. Pearl,
explores the challenges children face in learning to use verbs
correctly, particularly focusing on the linking problem, which
involves mapping thematic roles to syntactic argument positions. A
case study in the chapter indicates that children are sensitive to
cues like animacy in this classification process. Another case study
in the chapter investigates how children learn verb classes,
considering two theories: the Uniformity of Theta Assignment
Hypothesis (UTAH) and its relativized form (rUTAH). The findings
suggest that children's knowledge of linking patterns evolves over
time, with UTAH or rUTAH explaining verb classes at different ages.
This implies that children may acquire knowledge of linking patterns
gradually rather than having innate knowledge. In essence, the chapter
provides insights into how children navigate the complexities of the
linking problem when learning verb classes.

Chapter 8, titled "Artificial Language Learning," by Jennifer
Culbertson, explores the history, applications, and challenges of
artificial language learning experiments in the fields of psychology
and linguistics. The chapter traces the evolution of these experiments
from early investigations into learners' ability to extract implicit
rules from structured input to more sophisticated paradigms
incorporating distributional information and statistical learning. The
chapter advocates for the value of artificial language learning
experiments in providing controlled environments to test hypothesized
constraints. It introduces four main paradigms: "ease of learning,"
"poverty-of-the-stimulus" (extrapolation), "regularization," and
"silent gesture." These paradigms vary in terms of input, learning
involvement, and behavioral measures. The text then offers a summary
of key methods and results, focusing on syntactic patterns. The
subsequent sections delve into specific phenomena such as simplicity,
naturalness, and communicative efficiency, examining how artificial
language learning experiments contribute to the understanding of these
aspects in syntactic systems. The chapter concludes by addressing
additional studies on processing and perception, emphasizing the role
of cognitive biases in shaping linguistic structures, particularly in
word order patterns and morpheme order.
Part 3 begins with Chapter 9 and continues on to Chapter 14, with a
common theme of psychological methods used within Syntactic Theory.

In Chapter 9, “Self-Paced Reading,” Masaya Yoshida explores the
application of the self-paced reading (SPR) method in syntactic
theory, with a focus on sentence comprehension research. The SPR
method, designed to simulate natural reading, measures reading time
for each word or phrase. Yoshida discusses the shift from traditional
linguistic methods to larger-scale behavioral experiments like SPR,
emphasizing their potential to contribute valuable data to formal
syntactic theories. The chapter discusses two cases to illustrate
insights gained from online sentence-processing experiments. Firstly,
the argument/adjunct distinction is explored using lexical frequency
effects to differentiate arguments from adjuncts. Secondly, the study
of parasitic gaps and islands demonstrates how online experiments can
elucidate linguistic phenomena and distinguish between grammatical and
processing-based explanations. In summary, Yoshida's chapter
underscores the complementary role of online sentence processing
experiments, particularly SPR, in advancing our understanding of
formal syntactic theories. These experiments provide crucial insights
into the cognitive processes of online reading, bridging the gap
between linguistic theories and real-time sentence comprehension.

Chapter 10, "Eye-Tracking and Experimental Syntax," by Dave Kush and
Brian Dillon, provides an in-depth exploration of the integration of
eye-tracking technology into the study of reading behavior,
particularly its application in experimental syntax. The authors
introduce the concept of experimental syntax, highlighting its
departure from traditional syntactic inquiry by incorporating formal
experimental design and quantitative analysis of acceptability data.
The chapter covers the theoretical foundations of eye-tracking in
reading, presenting the E-Z Reader model that underscores the serial,
attention-driven nature of reading. It explains how eye movements,
characterized by fixations and saccades, offer insights into lexical
access and higher-order syntactic and semantic integration processes.
The chapter serves as a guide for experimental syntacticians,
emphasizing the significance of theoretical and methodological
considerations in eye-tracking studies. It underscores the need for a
committed parsing model, explores the relevance of findings for
syntactic theory, and highlights the impact of online measures on
traditional grammatical distinctions.

Chapter 11, “Speed-accuracy Trade-off Modeling and Its Interface with
Experimental Syntax,” by Stephani Foraker, Ian Cunnings, and Andrea E.
Martin, delves into the Speed–Accuracy Trade-Off (SAT) technique's
application in psycholinguistics and experimental syntax. The SAT
method, which evaluates the trade-off between speed and accuracy in
linguistic judgments over time, is discussed as a powerful tool
providing unbiased insights into the time course of language
processing. Focusing on studies employing SAT, particularly those by
McElree, the chapter explores how sentence elements' distance and
hierarchy impact processing time and accuracy. Findings consistently
support a direct-access retrieval mechanism, challenging the notion of
serial scanning of syntactic structures during retrieval. The text
delves into syntactic complexity, morphosyntactic information, and the
role of grammatical syntax in retrieval interference during
long-distance dependency resolution. Overall, the chapter emphasizes
SAT's pivotal role in disentangling speed and accuracy, providing
nuanced insights into the intricate dynamics of language processing
and its intersection with memory operations.

Chapter 12, “Formal Methods in Experimental Syntax,” by Tim Hunter,
discusses the application of formal methods to enhance empirical
evaluations of natural language syntax theories. The central focus is
on linking hypotheses that necessitate syntactic theories to adopt
explicit and self-contained formal grammars. Two classes of linking
hypotheses are introduced: those based on information-theoretic
complexity metrics (such as surprisal or entropy reduction) and those
rooted in automata-theoretic models of parsing. These linking
hypotheses serve to connect syntactic theories with
sentence-processing observations, enhancing empirical testability.
Ultimately, the chapter provides a comprehensive framework for linking
syntactic theories to empirical observations, offering a basis for
testing and evaluating different grammatical hypotheses in sentence
processing.

Chapter 13, “Investigating Syntactic Structure and Processing in the
Auditory Modality,” by Mara Breen and Katy Carlson, presents a
thorough exploration of syntactic structure and processing in the
auditory domain, underscoring the importance of studying spoken
language to unravel fundamental aspects of human communication. The
authors cover theoretical challenges, charting the historical
perspectives on the interplay between syntactic and prosodic
structures. They engage with recent models like Optimality Theory and
Alignment theory, aiming to capture the nuanced relationship between
syntax and prosody. The chapter also underscores the intricacies of
collecting natural-sounding productions and analyzing prosody. Towards
the end of the chapter (13.5), the authors advocate for incorporating
auditory studies into experimental syntax despite challenges. They
summarize key findings on prosodic boundaries, pitch accents, and
their role in sentence processing. Emphasizing the interconnectedness
of prosody and syntax, the authors encourage researchers to explore
how entire prosodic contours interact with syntactic constraints.

In Chapter 14, “Language-processing Experiments in the Field,” by
Matthew Wagers and Sandra Chung delve into the details of conducting
language-processing experiments in small language communities, using
their extensive experience with Chamorro in the U.S. Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands as a case study. The authors emphasize
the necessity of adapting experimental designs to the cultural and
practical realities of fieldwork. The chapter explores challenges in
implementing experimental designs, focusing on material creation,
cultural relevance, and participant engagement. Two field-based
experimental methods, Self-paced listening, and preferential looking,
are introduced. Cultural issues in recruitment, delivery, and informed
consent are addressed. The authors stress the need for a holistic and
minimalist outlook, acknowledging the diversity among small language
communities and advocating for an adaptive, culturally sensitive
approach to experimental linguistics. The chapter provides valuable
reflections and practical considerations for researchers engaging in
language-processing experiments in the field.

Part 4 of the book entails Chapters 15, 16, and 17 and also includes
the final reflection chapter (18) despite it standing relatively on
its own. Part 4 addresses the usage of neurolinguistic methods in
Syntactic Theory.

Chapter 15, "Electrophysiological Methods," by Jon Sprouse and Diogo
Almeida, explores the potential applications of electrophysiological
measures, particularly electroencephalography (EEG) and
magnetoencephalography (MEG), in experimental syntax. The authors
discuss the historical dominance of EEG and MEG in language processing
studies and the importance of gaining insights into syntactic
theories. The chapter provides a foundation in electricity,
neurobiology, and wave mathematics, essential for understanding EEG
and MEG as tools in experimental syntax. It emphasizes the challenges
associated with EEG, such as source localization limitations, and
introduces key analysis techniques like event-related potential (ERP)
and time-frequency decomposition. The authors also acknowledge the
potential benefits and challenges of using EEG and MEG in syntax
research, recommending careful consideration due to biological and
methodological complexities. Despite the risks, they highlight the
method's exciting potential for advancing experimental syntax.

Chapter 16, "Hemodynamic Methods," by Jonathan R. Brennan, considers
the application of hemodynamic techniques, such as fMRI and PET, in
studying syntactic representations and computations. It introduces the
concept of linking hypotheses to connect grammatical principles with
brain signals, emphasizing the need for explicit and well-defined
assumptions in this interdisciplinary field. The chapter explores the
role of predictability in syntactic processing, discussing studies
that demonstrate how predictability modulates brain activity at
various levels. It highlights the challenges and opportunities
presented by stimulus predictability, suggesting that computational
psycholinguistics can contribute to refining linking hypotheses.
Brennan's chapter serves as a comprehensive guide to the challenges
and progress in using hemodynamic methods to study syntax. It sets the
stage for future research by providing a framework for linking
hypotheses and highlighting the importance of explicit theoretical
connections between syntactic representations and brain signals.

Chapter 17, “Aphasia and Syntax,” by William Matchin and Corianna
Rogalsky, scrutinizes the intricate interplay between aphasia and
syntactic theory, particularly focusing on agrammatism resulting from
brain injury. Aphasia is a language disorder resulting from brain
damage, typically due to stroke or injury, that impairs the ability to
comprehend or express language, affecting speaking, listening,
reading, and writing skills to varying degrees. The authors critique
the Sentence-Processing Complexity (SPC) model, advocating for a shift
towards grammatical frameworks like the Minimalist Program and
tree-adjoining grammar. They introduce morphosyntactic working memory
and identify two co-occurring syndromes in Broca's aphasia patients:
deficits in phonological WM shared with conduction aphasia, explaining
similarities in agrammatic sentence comprehension, and deficits in
morphosyntactic WM accounting for agrammatic production. The chapter
offers a comprehensive overview of challenges, history, and potential
research directions in understanding language deficits in aphasia.

Chapter 18 of "The Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Syntax" offers
diverse perspectives on the future of the field. Diogo Almeida
stresses structured thinking about acceptability judgments and syntax
theories for theoretical simplification. Mara Breen and Katy Carlson
advocate for studying prosody and sentence processing trends,
emphasizing probabilistic computational models and the interplay
between prosody and syntax. Jonathan R. Brennan discusses challenges
in neurolinguistics, promoting reasonable mappings between neural and
linguistic constructs. Jennifer Culbertson addresses field divisions,
emphasizing experiments' role in understanding language behavior and
promoting inclusive theories. Stephani Foraker, Ian Cunnings, and
Andrea E. Martin propose integration with linguistics subfields,
focusing on memory architecture and island phenomena. Tim Hunter
explores relationships between gradient acceptability judgments and
discrete grammatical notions. Elsi Kaiser and Jeffrey Runner stress
expanding work on binding and coreference to diverse languages. Dave
Kush and Brian Dillon discuss linking formal theories with human
sentence processing, anticipating the field's evolution toward
interdisciplinary collaboration. Common themes include structured
thinking, interdisciplinary integration, addressing fundamental
questions and expanding experimental work to diverse languages, with
an emphasis on collaboration, theoretical solidity, and relevance to
syntacticians.

EVALUATION

The "Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax" is a comprehensive
compilation of chapters encompassing various experimental approaches
to syntax. The chapters span a wide spectrum, from investigating the
reliability of acceptability judgments to exploring the relationship
between aphasia and syntactic theory. The book attempts to be as
interdisciplinary in nature as possible with such dense content
material. The book also attempts to be a place where both aspiring
researchers and experienced researchers looking for a new direction
can find inspiration and information. Ultimately, this book considers
itself a type of encyclopedia demonstrating the various aspects of
experimental syntax that are available to both new and old members of
the field.

The authors largely succeed in achieving their goals, offering
in-depth insights into experimental methodologies applied to syntax.
Chapter 1, for instance, discusses the challenges of validating
cognitive properties like acceptability, emphasizing the importance of
formal experimental methods. The goals of each subsequent chapter are
similarly achieved, contributing to the general understanding of
experimental syntax.

The intended audience for the book is clearly scholars, researchers,
and advanced students in linguistics, psycholinguistics, and cognitive
sciences. While some chapters may be challenging for beginners, the
diversity of topics covered ensures that the book caters to a broad
spectrum of readers within the linguistic community. Nevertheless, the
heavy emphasis on formal methods in some chapters, such as Chapter 12,
might pose a challenge for readers without a strong background in
formal linguistics, indicating a potential drawback.

The contextualization of the book within the broader literature on
experimental syntax is well-executed. Each chapter integrates with
existing debates, synthesizing findings from various studies and
positioning itself as a substantial addition to linguistic research.
The common thread of experimental approaches binds the diverse topics
together, maintaining a cohesive narrative throughout.

The book's most positive aspects include its methodological rigor and
diversity. Several chapters, such as Chapter 9 on the self-paced
reading method and Chapter 15 on electrophysiological methods, exhibit
a lot of commitment to methodological rigor, providing clear insights
into experimental design, data collection, and analysis. The diversity
in topics, ranging from studies with infants (Chapter 5) to artificial
language learning experiments (Chapter 8), contributes to a
well-rounded exploration of experimental syntax.

The implications for future research are discussed at multiple points
throughout the book. Chapter 18, especially, offers insightful
perspectives on potential research directions, encouraging
interdisciplinary collaboration with other fields of study.

Another positive aspect of the book is its inclusion of non-mainstream
aspects of language/languages. Chapter 14 serves as a notable example
of the book's commitment to inclusivity. By focusing on
language-processing experiments in small language communities, the
chapter emphasizes the importance of adapting designs to cultural
realities and advocating for a culturally sensitive approach in
experimental linguistics.

In conclusion, "The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax" stands as
a large contribution to the field, offering numerous insights into
experimental syntax.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Alexander Holmberg is an MA student in Applied Linguistics at Northern
Arizona University, where he also teaches English composition.
Alexander’s current research interests include English grammar using
corpus-based approaches along with a special focus on the complexity
of English grammar across different registers. He also has interests
in vocabulary acquisition, both in terms of psycholinguistics and
teaching pedagogy. His other interests include register studies,
corpus methods and quantitative approaches to data analysis, and
general EFL/ESL methodologies.



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