An ERP study of continuous speech processing. II. Segmentation, semantics, and syntax in non-native speakers

Behavioral and electrophysiological studies indicate that altered language experience has different effects on distinct subsystems within language. In this study, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in native Japanese late-learners of English listening to English sentences. ERP indices of semantic processing, syntactic processing, and speech segmentation were compared and contrasted for native Japanese and previously tested native English speakers. Native and non-native speakers showed similar semantic processing effects including an N400 for words as opposed to nonwords. In contrast, native Japanese speakers showed none of the effects associated with syntactic processing in native English speakers including an anterior negativity to nonwords presented in a syntactic context. Furthermore, the ERP word-onset effect evident in native English speakers was not found for the native Japanese speakers in this study. These data contribute additional and specific evidence to the proposal that subsystems within language display varying degrees of plasticity.