21.5167, Diss: Psycholing/Syntax: Pliatsikas: 'Grammatical Processing in ...'

[linguist at LINGUISTLIST.ORG]

LINGUIST List: Vol-21-5167. Mon Dec 20 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.5167, Diss: Psycholing/Syntax: Pliatsikas: 'Grammatical Processing in  ...'

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews: Monica Macaulay, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Eric Raimy, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Joseph Salmons, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Anja Wanner, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
       <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, 
and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang <mfon at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm.

===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 16-Dec-2010
From: Christos Pliatsikas [c.pliatsikas at reading.ac.uk]
Subject: Grammatical Processing in Second Language Learners of English
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:34:32
From: Christos Pliatsikas [c.pliatsikas at reading.ac.uk]
Subject: Grammatical Processing in Second Language Learners of English

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=21-5167.html&submissionid=3795655&topicid=14&msgnumber=1
  


Institution: University of Reading 
Program: School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2010 

Author: Christos Pliatsikas

Dissertation Title: Grammatical Processing in Second Language Learners of
English 

Linguistic Field(s): Psycholinguistics
                     Syntax


Dissertation Director(s):
Tom Johnstone
Theodoror Marinis
Laurie Butler

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis examines grammatical processing by second language (L2)
learners of English, and more specifically, whether or not L2 processing is
similar, or can become similar, to native (L1) processing. It has been
suggested (Clahsen and Felser, 2006b) that only specific grammatical
phenomena in L2 are successfully processed by L2 learners; for those
phenomena that are not, L2 learners compensate with different processing
strategies. Additionally, Ullman (2004) suggested that advanced L2
proficiency and extensive exposure to an L2-speaking environment can result
in a shift to more native-like processing, accompanied by a shift in the
recruited brain areas. However, brain activity for L2 grammatical
processing is currently understudied.

To investigate these suggestions, this thesis examined processing of two
grammatical phenomena in English: a morphological, past tense inflection,
and a syntactic, postulation of intermediate traces in long-distance
wh-dependencies. Four behavioural experiments (masked priming, self-paced
reading) included two groups of advanced late Greek-English L2 learners,
with and without naturalistic exposure to English, and native English
speakers. Two subsequent fMRI experiments tested native speakers and L2
learners with naturalistic exposure on the same tasks.

For past tense processing, the results suggested that L2 learners are
native-like in processing regular and irregular forms according to a dual
route; additionally, naturalistic exposure was not important. Neuroimaging
findings revealed an extensive network for L1 processing of regular
inflection, but no effects for L2 learners. Conversely, neither of the L2
groups gave evidence of processing intermediate wh-traces, as native
speakers did; instead, L2 learners based their processing on
lexical-semantic information of the sentence. This was also confirmed by
the neuroimaging findings. This thesis confirms that L2 learners can
process some 'shallow' structures of L2 grammar, like regular inflection,
but 'deeper' structures, like intermediate traces of wh-movement, are not
accessible even by L2 learners with substantial naturalistic L2 exposure. 




-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-21-5167	
----------------------------------------------------------