Self-paced Reading Task Research Articles

통계적 학습과 언어: 영어 관계절과 수일치 구문 중심으로

This study investigates whether sensitivity to nonadjacent and adjacent dependency rules in an artificial grammar learning paradigm (i.e., statistical learning ability) predicts L2 learners’ performance in comprehending two different types of English structures. A total of 110 L1-Korean participants completed the four tasks: two artificial grammar learning tasks, involving nonadjacent and adjacent dependency rules, and two self-paced English reading tasks, involving English relative clauses and adjacent number agreement in noun phrases. The results show that their statistical learning scores predicted the L2 learners’ performance only in processing object relative clauses: the ability to discover the nonadjacent pattern in artificial grammar learning is correlated with comprehension accuracy on object relative clauses, but not on adjacent number agreement. The findings of this study indicate that the statistical learning ability to discover a particular pattern (a nonadjacent dependency) can be considered a predictor in comprehending long-distance dependency patterns in the L2. These also illuminate the role of implicit learning processes of language learning, which will have pedagogical implications for second language instruction as well.

Plural marking in the second language: Atomicity, definiteness, and transfer

AbstractThis paper examines whether second language (L2)-English learners whose native languages (L1; Korean and Mandarin) lack obligatory plural marking transfer the properties of plural marking from their L1s, and whether transfer is manifested both offline (in a grammaticality judgment task) and online (in a self-paced reading task). The online task tests the predictions of the morphological congruency hypothesis (Jiang 2007), according to which L2 learners have particular difficulty automatically activating the meaning of L2 morphemes that are incongruent with their L1. Experiment 1 tests L2 learners’ sensitivity to errors of–soversuppliance with mass nouns, while Experiment 2 tests their sensitivity to errors of–somission with count nouns. The findings show that (a) L2 learners detect errors with nonatomic mass nouns (sunlights) but not atomic ones (furnitures), both offline and online; and (b) L1-Korean L2-English learners are more successful than L1-Mandarin L2-English learners in detecting missing–swith definite plurals (these boat), while the two groups behave similarly with indefinite plurals (many boat). Given that definite plurals require plural marking in Korean but not in Mandarin, the second finding is consistent with L1-transfer. Overall, the findings show that learners are able to overcome morphological incongruency and acquire novel uses of L2 morphemes.

Development of a Self-paced Sequential Letterstring Reading Task to Capture the Temporal Dynamics of Reading a Natural Language

Development of a Self-paced Sequential Letterstring Reading Task to Capture the Temporal Dynamics of Reading a Natural Language

Is Starting Early Beneficial for the Acquisition of English Articles in an EFL Setting?

This study investigates the role of age of first exposure in the acquisition and processing of English articles in an EFL setting. Fifty advanced Korean learners of English participated in a grammatical acceptability judgment task and a self-paced reading task. The participants were divided into two groups depending on the initial age at which they were constantly exposed to English at least 3 hours per week (‘early group’ < 12; ‘late group’ ≥ 12). No significant performance differences were observed between the two groups in the judgment task. However, meaningful differences were found between the reading behaviors of the two groups in the self-paced reading task. These findings show that the learners’ age of first exposure has a significant impact on learners’ performance when the ability to process English articles in real-time is evaluated. In contrast, it has much less impact on learners’ performance on a task which tests explicit knowledge under no time-limit condition.

The Effects of Reading Engagement on Older Adults’ Resource Allocation in Reading and Cognition

With aging, print exposure has been shown to predict effective resource allocation during reading, as well as to account for growth in certain abilities. To test the hypothesis that literacy engagement has causal effects on reading processes and the cognitive abilities on which they depend, we developed a home-based literacy intervention administered via iPads. Participants (64% female; 60-79 years of age; < 10hrs/week of reading at baseline) were randomly assigned to an 8-week reading intervention group (developed in collaboration with a Champaign Library adult literacy specialist) or to a puzzle control, both of which involved ~8hrs/week of activity engagement. At pretest and posttest, participants performed a self-paced reading task to assess resource allocation to word and conceptual processing, and completed a battery of cognitive measures assessing episodic memory, working memory, and verbal fluency (alphas ≥ .79). Based on one-tailed tests, results showed greater positive change in working memory, t(57)=1.69, p<.05, for the literacy group relative to the control, and a marginally significant difference in change in episodic memory, t(57)=1.62, p<.06, but not in verbal fluency, t< 1. In addition, there was a significant difference between conditions in change in resource allocation to conceptual processing, t(53)=1.75, p<.05. Changes in working memory and conceptual processing were positively correlated (r=.27, p=.02). These findings suggest that reading engagement may be beneficial for older adults’ growth in fluid ability, which impacts reading processes, so as to create a “virtuous spiral” of resilience between literacy engagement and ability.

Deliberate and contextual learning of L2 idioms: The effect of learning conditions on online processing

This research compares the outcomes of two computer-assisted second language (L2) idiom learning conditions: deliberate and contextual. Low-intermediate proficiency Japanese learners of English studied 36 idioms online by either using flashcards or reading them in sentences with contextual clues to their meanings over three learning sessions. Posttest results of these two learning conditions were compared with each other and with a baseline condition in which no learning occurred. In an idiom translation posttest, L2 participants showed superior declarative knowledge of the idioms learned in the flashcard condition. Nondeclarative knowledge gains were measured on a self-paced reading (SPR) task validated in a pilot study with 60 native (L1) readers. Although the idioms primed semantic probes during reading for the L1 participants, this was not the case for the L2 learners. Nevertheless, the two learning conditions had some positive effects on the semantic probes compared to the baseline. The finding that participants had fluent access to the idioms’ figurative meanings while reading the semantic probes is particularly important for the flashcard condition because it suggests that this learning approach results in knowledge relevant in real-time language use.

Word-to-text integration in English as a second language reading comprehension

We assessed the relationship between word-to-text-integration (WTI) and reading comprehension in 7th grade students (n = 441) learning English as a second language (L2). The students performed a self-paced WTI reading task in Fall (T1) and Spring (T2), consisting of three text manipulation types (anaphora resolution, argument overlap, anomaly detection), divided in simple and complex passages. The passages contained proximate versus distant anaphora, explicit repetitions versus implicit inferences, and no anomalies versus anomalies. We first examined how WTI complexity was related to reading times on target, target plus one, and target plus two, controlling for word frequency, decoding fluency, gender, and age. Mixed-effects models showed shorter reading times on T2 than on T1 and for simple compared to complex passages, indicating improvement of L2 reading speed. Complexity affected WTI for our L2 learners, as was reflected by longer reading times on complex compared to simple argument overlap and anomaly detection passages. We then assessed whether reading comprehension could be predicted by WTI. Longer reading times on complex compared to simple argument overlap and anomaly detection passages predicted offline reading comprehension. These WTI-measures of complexity are thus indicators of WTI proficiency for novice L2 learners.

Effects of Long-Term Language Use Experience in Sentence Processing: Evidence from Korean.

Attraction effects arise when a comprehender erroneously retrieves a distractor instead of a target item during memory retrieval operations. In Korean, considerable processing difficulties occur in the agreement relation checking between a subject and an honorific-marked predicate when an intervening distractor carries a non-honorific feature. We investigate how attraction effects are managed during the processing of Korean subject-predicate honorific agreement by two Korean-speaking groups with different language use experience backgrounds: college students and airline workers. Results showed that both groups demonstrated stable knowledge of the honorific agreement in the acceptability judgment task. In the self-paced reading task, the airline group, who used honorifics extensively in their workplace, was less affected by the attraction effect than the student group. Our findings suggest that long-term language use experience can modulate how language users manage potential influence from attraction effects in real-time sentence processing.

A self-paced-reading study on the effects of structured input and textual enhancement on the acquisition of the Italian subjunctive of doubt

The present study investigates the effects of structured input and textual enhancement on the acquisition of the Italian subjunctive of doubt using a self-paced reading test. The main questions of this study are: (1) Would L2 learners exposed to structured input and textual enhancement demonstrate sensitivity to violations of the Italian subjunctive of doubt as measured by a self-paced reading test? (2) Would L2 learners exposed to structured input and textual enhancement demonstrate the ability to comprehend sentences containing the subjunctive of doubt? Eighteen Chinese (L1) subjects learning Italian in a private school were randomly assigned to two instructional groups: structured input (n = 9); and textual enhancement (n = 9). Neither instructional treatments included explicit information. The main results from the self-paced reading task indicated that only the structured input group showed higher sensitivity to violations, and this group improved from pre-test to post-test in the ability to comprehend sentences containing the target feature under investigation.

Task Sensitivity in L2 English Speakers' Syntactic Processing: Evidence for Good-Enough Processing in Self-Paced Reading.

Native (L1) and second-language (L2) sentence processing can sometimes be shallow. A Good-Enough approach suggests that speakers may engage in shallow processing if the task permits. This study tests English native speakers and native Chinese L2 learners of English to explore whether different task demands affect their sentence processing. In a self-paced reading task, participants read globally or temporarily ambiguous sentences with relative clauses preceded by a matrix clause containing two noun phrases (NPs). Comprehension questions modulated task difficulty: Half the participants received comprehension questions that probed their interpretation of the relative clauses whereas the remaining half received superficial questions unrelated to the relative clauses. Task difficulty affected reading times at the point of disambiguation for both L1 and L2 participants. Additionally, participants’ attachment choices for globally ambiguous sentences were consistent with reading times of the disambiguating region in both L1 and L2 readers. The results suggest that both L1 and L2 syntactic processing is modulated by the task at hand. We argue for a similar treatment of shallowness for L1 and L2 speakers in models of sentence processing, along the lines of the Good-Enough approach to language processing.

Semantic comprehension of idioms

Abstract This study intends to test the Graded Salience Hypothesis, in order to investigate the factors involved in comprehension. This research considered predictions derived from this hypothesis by evaluating the salience of idioms in the Persian language. We intended to measure Reading Time (RTs), and the design comprised 2 Contexts (figurative, literal), 3 Types of Statements (familiar vs. unfamiliar vs. less familiar) and RTs (long, short, equal). Two types of contexts (figuratively inviting and literally inviting contexts) were prepared. The software for this experiment was prepared for the purpose of self-paced reading experiments. Two pretests were performed. In the first pretest, participants rated the expressions on a 1–7 familiarity scale. The second pretest was designed to confirm that contexts are equally supportive. Then, expressions were divided according to their familiarity (familiar, less-familiar, unfamiliar). Sentences were used so that, according to the second pretest, their contexts would be equally supportive. Sentences were displayed on a PC, controlled by Windows 7. The self-paced reading task was applied using the Moving Windows software. In the first part of the experiment, participants read each idiom in figuratively inviting contexts and their RTs were recorded. In the second part of the experiment, participants read each idiom in literally inviting contexts and their RTs were recorded. Results of testing these idioms support the Graded Salience Hypothesis, but not entirely. Such findings suggested that sometimes context affects the access of salient information and a semi serial process is witnessed. Results indicate that the salient meaning of both familiar and less familiar idioms is figurative. In addition, salient meanings in the space following the unfamiliar idiom and the first word of the next (spillover) sentence, were both, figurative and literal.

Cross-linguistic lexical effects in different-script bilingual reading are modulated by task

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Bilingual lexical processing is non-selective, which allows for activation of the non-target language, even when reading in a different script. However, while the influence of cross-script L1 lexical knowledge has been demonstrated in isolated word reading, it is unknown whether it survives in more natural reading tasks. We investigated whether crosslinguistic facilitation due to phonological similarity, semantic similarity, and L1 cognate frequency, is observed when different-script bilinguals read cognate words in their L2 in sentence context and in isolation. Design/methodology/approach: Two tasks were conducted with the same Japanese-English bilinguals and target items: A self-paced English reading task with non-highlighted target items embedded in sentence context; and an English lexical decision task. A monolingual control group also completed both tasks. Data and analysis: 108 cognate items were embedded in sentence context and read by 23 Japanese-English bilinguals and 23 English monolinguals for meaning comprehension. The same items were then responded to by the same participants in lexical decision. Linear mixed-effects models were used to investigate the impact of continuous measures of L1–L2 phonological and semantic similarity, L1 cognate frequency, and L2 proficiency, while controlling for L2 lexical characteristics. Findings/conclusions: Cross-linguistic phonological and semantic similarity, as well as cognate frequency, partially determined reading times of words in both tasks but only in bilingual, not monolingual, reading. These effects were modulated by task, revealing reduced cross-linguistic facilitation in sentence reading relative to lexical decision. Originality: This is the first study to investigate different-script cognate processing in sentence context and compare it with isolated word reading. Significance/implications: Although bilinguals do not switch off their L1 during L2 reading, the type of task partially determines how cross-linguistic effects impact reading times. The degree of overlap of Japanese-English cognates is less influential in natural reading tasks compared with isolated word reading tasks.

L2 processing of filler-gap dependencies: Attenuated effects of naturalistic L2 exposure in a multilingual setting

In the online processing of long-distance wh-dependencies, native speakers have been found to make use of intermediate syntactic gaps, which has the effect of facilitating dependency resolution. This strategy has also been observed in second language (L2) speakers living in an L2 immersion context, but not in classroom L2 learners. This research note investigates whether there is evidence of use of the intermediate gap among L2 speakers that have received considerable naturalistic exposure to the L2 from a young age, but do not live in a standard immersion context. Two groups of participants, one L1 English and one L1 Afrikaans–L2 English, completed a self-paced reading task involving English sentences containing long-distance wh-dependencies. The data were analysed using Bayesian regression. The results indicate that the intermediate gap facilitated dependency resolution in the L1 English group but not in the L2 group. Increased L2 exposure seemed to increase sensitivity to the intermediate gap among the L2 speakers, but was not associated with faster dependency resolution. The findings suggest that although non-immersive L2 experience affects L2 processing of abstract grammatical cues, it may be less effective than fully immersive experience in engendering nativelike processing of long-distance wh-dependencies.

The processing of object–subject ambiguities in early second-language acquirers

AbstractStudies of the second language (L2) processing of object–subject ambiguities (OSA), where the parser must revise an initially incorrect analysis of the input, have yielded two findings that the present paper addresses. First, L2 speakers are guided more strongly by plausibility information than L1 speakers in OSA processing. Second, L2 speakers generally do not perform reanalysis in real time, and their comparably poor performance on subsequent comprehension questions suggests ultimate failure to derive a grammatical parse. Because previous studies have targeted later L2 acquirers living outside of an L2 context, the present study tested whether the above two findings hold for childhood L2 acquirers with extensive naturalistic L2 exposure, hypothesizing that these factors would engender more nativelike processing. A self-paced reading task involving two kinds of OSA construction was conducted. Sensitivity to plausibility information differed across the first language and L2 groups per construction type. Within the L2 group, there is evidence that the early childhood acquirers initiated online reanalysis. Comprehension question accuracy did not differ across participant groups, suggesting that all participants succeeded in reanalysis to the same extent. The role of age of onset in L2 processing is discussed, as is the findings’ relevance to current models of L2 processing.

한국어 학습자의 목적격 조사에 대한 인지 양상 연구 - 자기조절읽기 과제를 중심으로 -

This study aims to investigate the difference in perceiving Korean accusative case markers ‘eul’ of Korean native speakers and L2 learners through a self-paced reading(SPR) task. The study employed 15 native speakers, 17 advanced learners with TOPIK level 6 and 16 intermediate learners with TOPIK level 4. Their SPR results were analyzed to find out the perception similar among three groups, but there is a delicate difference among them. As results the study found out that (i) intermediate learners showed the longer Reaction Time(RT) on the window 3 and 4 than other two groups and it seems that the proficiency influences on the RT, (ii) learners’ accuracy rate(ACC) showed the violation of syntax influences on the ACC and they noticed well in the sentence which has the correct syntax than wrong. Overall, advanced and intermediate learners in this study showed significant difference of perceiving accusative case markers compared to native speakers.

The interplay between emotion and modality in the Foreign-Language effect on moral decision making

AbstractThis study examined whether theForeign-Language effect, an increase in bilinguals’ rate of rational decisions to moral dilemmas in their foreign versus their native language, is influenced by emotion and the modality in which the dilemmas are presented. 154 Dutch–English bilinguals were asked to read and listen to personal and impersonal moral dilemmas in Dutch or in English. Importantly, the reading task had the character of a self-paced reading task to resemble the listening task as closely as possible. In both modalities, participants’ task was to indicate whether the proposed action was appropriate or not. Results showed that the Foreign-Language effect was present for personal dilemmas only. In addition, an effect of modality demonstrated that participants took overall more rational decisions during the listening than the reading task. These findings give insight in the interplay between language, emotion and task demands, revealing that moral decision making is context-dependent.

Processing subject focus across two Spanish varieties

AbstractLinguists have keenly studied the realization of focus – the part of the sentence introducing new information – because it involves the interaction of different linguistic modules. Syntacticians have argued that Spanish uses word order for information-structural purposes, marking focused constituents via rightmost movement. However, recent studies have challenged this claim. To contribute sentence-processing evidence, we conducted a self-paced reading task and a judgment task with Mexican and Catalonian Spanish speakers. We found that movement to final position can signal focus in Spanish, in contrast to the aforementioned work. We contextualize our results within the literature, identifying three basic facts that theories of Spanish focus and theories of language processing should explain, and advance a fourth: that mismatches in information-structural expectations can induce processing delays. Finally, we propose that some differences in the existing experimental results may stem from methodological differences.

Exploring and Exploiting Uncertainty: Statistical Learning Ability Affects How We Learn to Process Language Along Multiple Dimensions of Experience.

While the effects of pattern learning on language processing are well known, the way in which pattern learning shapes exploratory behavior has long gone unnoticed. We report on the way in which individual differences in statistical pattern learning affect performance in the domain of language along multiple dimensions. Analyzing data from healthy monolingual adults' performance on a serial reaction time task and a self-paced reading task, we show how individual differences in statistical pattern learning are reflected in readers' knowledge of linguistic co-occurrence patterns and in their exploration and exploitation of content-specific and task-general information. First, we investigated the extent to which an individual's pattern learning correlates with his orher sensitivity to systematic morphological and syntactic co-occurrences, as evidenced while reading authentic sentences. We found that the stream of morphological and syntactic information has a more pronounced effect on the reading speed of, as we will label them, content-sensitive learners in that the more probable the co-occurrence pattern, the faster their reading of that pattern will be. Next, we investigated how differences in pattern learning are reflected in the ways in which individuals approach the reading task itself and adapt to it. Casting this relation in terms of exploration/exploitation strategies, known from Reinforcement Learning, we conclude that content-sensitive learners are also more likely to initially probe (explore) a wider range of directly relevant patterns, which they can later use (exploit) to optimize their reading performance further. By affecting exploratory behavior, pattern learning influences the information that is gathered and becomes available for exploitation, thereby increasing the effect pattern learning has on language cognition.

Syntactic Comprehension of Relative Clauses and Center Embedding Using Pseudowords.

Relative clause (RC) formation and center embedding (CE) are two primary syntactic operations fundamental for creating and understanding complex sentences. Ample evidence from previous cross-linguistic studies has revealed several similarities and differences between RC and CE. However, it is not easy to investigate the effect of pure syntactic constraints for RC and CE without the interference of semantic and pragmatic interactions. Here, we show how readers process CE and RC using a self-paced reading task in Korean. More interestingly, we adopted a novel self-paced pseudoword reading task to exploit syntactic operations of the RC and CE, eliminating the semantic and pragmatic interference in sentence comprehension. Our results showed that the main effects of RC and CE conform to previous studies. Furthermore, we found a facilitation effect of sentence comprehension when we combined an RC and CE in a complex sentence. Our study provides a valuable insight into how the purely syntactic processing of RC and CE assists comprehension of complex sentences.

Outliers in L2 Research in Applied Linguistics: A Synthesis and Data Re-Analysis

AbstractData from self-paced reading (SPR) tasks are routinely checked for statistical outliers (Marsden, Thompson, &amp; Plonsky, 2018). Such data points can be handled in a variety of ways (e.g., trimming, data transformation), each of which may influence study results in a different manner. This two-phase study sought, first, to systematically review outlier handling techniques found in studies that involve SPR and, second, to re-analyze raw data from SPR tasks to understand the impact of those techniques. Toward these ends, in Phase I, a sample of 104 studies that employed SPR tasks was collected and coded for different outlier treatments. As found in Marsden et al. (2018), wide variability was observed across the sample in terms of selection of time and standard deviation (SD)-based boundaries for determining what constitutes a legitimate reading time (RT). In Phase II, the raw data from the SPR studies in Phase I were requested from the authors. Nineteen usable datasets were obtained and re-analyzed using data transformations, SD boundaries, trimming, and winsorizing, in order to test their relative effectiveness for normalizing SPR reaction time data. The results suggested that, in the vast majority of cases, logarithmic transformation circumvented the need for SD boundaries, which blindly eliminate or alter potentially legitimate data. The results also indicated that choice of SD boundary had little influence on the data and revealed no meaningful difference between trimming and winsorizing, implying that blindly removing data from SPR analyses might be unnecessary. Suggestions are provided for future research involving SPR data and the handling of outliers in second language (L2) research more generally.