Interference and filler-gap dependency formation in native and non-native language comprehension

Fujita, H. and Cunnings, I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5318-0186 (2022) Interference and filler-gap dependency formation in native and non-native language comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition, 48 (5). pp. 702-716. ISSN 0278-7393 doi: 10.1037/xlm0001134

Abstract/Summary

The mechanisms underlying native (L1) and non-native (L2) sentence processing have been widely debated. One account of potential L1/L2 differences is that L2 sentence processing underuses syntactic information and relies heavily on semantic and surface cues. Recently, an alternative account has been proposed, which argues that the source of L1/L2 differences lies in how susceptible L1 and L2 speakers are to interference during memory retrieval operations. The present study tested these two accounts by investigating filler-gap dependency formation and susceptibility to similarity-based interference in L1 and L2 language comprehension. The results demonstrated that L1 and L2 speakers recover the information of the filler upon encountering a gap and are susceptible to similarity-based interference during filler-gap dependency formation. However, there was no significant evidence of L1/L2 differences. These findings suggest that L1 and L2 speakers similarly engage in cue-based memory retrieval operations during filler-gap dependency formation.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/104731
Identification Number/DOI	10.1037/xlm0001134
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM) Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Clinical Language Sciences Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Language and Cognition
Publisher	American Psychological Association.
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