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Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks
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Morphosyntactic processing in late second-language learners.

Margaret Gillon Dowens1, Marta Vergara, Horacio A Barber

  • 1University of La Laguna, Spain. Margaret.Dowens@nottingham.edu.cn

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
|July 8, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Highly proficient second-language learners show brain responses similar to native speakers during morphosyntactic processing. However, differences emerge based on language background and learning factors.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Linguistics
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Investigating second-language (L2) acquisition and processing in adults.
  • Understanding the neural basis of morphosyntactic processing in bilinguals.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine electrophysiological correlates of L2 morphosyntactic processing in proficient late learners.
  • To compare L2 processing patterns with native speaker patterns.

Main Methods:

  • Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 22 English-Spanish late learners and a control group of native Spanish speakers.
  • Participants read sentences with manipulated L2 morphosyntactic features (number and gender agreement) at different positions.

Main Results:

  • Native speakers showed early negativity followed by P600 for agreement violations.
  • Late learners exhibited similar ERP patterns within phrases but only P600 effects across phrases.
  • Significant differences in amplitude and latency were observed between number and gender agreement violations in L2 learners.

Conclusions:

  • Proficient L2 learners can exhibit native-like electrophysiological responses.
  • Age of acquisition and first language transfer influence L2 morphosyntactic processing.
  • ERP measures reveal nuanced differences in L2 processing compared to native speakers.