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Effect on comprehension of preposed versus postposed adverbial phrases
Saveria Colonna1, Michel Charolles, Laure Sarda
1UMR7023 Structures Formelles du Langage, University of Paris 8, 59-61 rue Pouchet, 75849 , Paris Cedex 17, France, saveria.colonna@univ-paris8.fr.
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
|November 22, 2013
Summary
Sentence-initial spatial adverbials, like "In the park," act as frame builders in text comprehension. Experiments show these preposed adverbials differ in function from those at the end of sentences.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Understanding how readers construct mental representations from text is a key psycholinguistic challenge.
- Linguistic cues, such as the placement of spatial adverbials, significantly influence text comprehension.
- The 'Discourse Framing Hypothesis' proposes preposed adverbials frame subsequent information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of sentence-initial spatial adverbials in text comprehension.
- To test the 'Discourse Framing Hypothesis' concerning preposed adverbials.
- To compare the function of sentence-initial versus sentence-final spatial adverbials.
Main Methods:
- Conducted three self-paced reading experiments.
- Focused on the linguistic device of sentence-initial spatial adverbials.
- Utilized experimental paradigms to measure reading times and processing.
Main Results:
- Spatial adverbials in sentence-initial positions function differently than when in sentence-final positions.
- Evidence supports the 'Discourse Framing Hypothesis' for preposed spatial adverbials.
- Reading times indicated distinct processing for initial versus final adverbials.
Conclusions:
- Sentence-initial spatial adverbials serve as 'frame builders' in text.
- The position of spatial adverbials critically affects their role in discourse.
- Findings align with Zwaan's Event Indexing Model of text comprehension.
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