Human magnetoencephalographic evidence of early syntactic responses to c-selection violations of English infinitives and gerunds by L1 and L2 speakers

Abstract

Previous studies of syntactic processing in first-language (L1) speakers revealed an early syntactic component peaking at around 150 ms after phrase-structure (PS), c(categorical)-selection violations in German and English using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and event-related potentials, as well as non-PS violations in English using MEG. The current MEG study examined whether such an early component would apply to English c-selection (PS) violations and whether it would be observed in both L1 speakers and second-language (L2) learners. Five American L1 adults and five Japanese advanced L2 learners listened to grammatical and ungrammatical versions of two structures with infinitive (I) and gerund (G) complements, while MEG responses were recorded with a dual 37-channel gradiometer system. A prominent syntactic magnetic field component peaking at approximately 150 ms (so called “SF-M150”) was generated by the incorrect *G condition (e.g., He happened using it). Such a prominent component was not observed in any other condition (e.g., the incorrect *I: He postponed to use it) for either group. L2 learners may possess automatic neuronal mechanisms comparable to L1 speakers for syntactic processing of infinitive c-selection violations.