Grammatical gender is a complex classification system and is often referred to as one of the most difficult grammatical categories for second language (L2) speakers to master. Previous research has focused on anticipatory processing of grammatical gender cues in first language (L1) speakers of various gendered languages (French, Spanish, Dutch, etc.) and has found that speakers use gender information from a preceding determiner to facilitate access to a gender-congruent noun (e.g., Dussias et al., 2013; Lew-Williams & Fernald, 2010). These findings have been consistently found among speakers of various languages when they were presented with congruent vs. incongruent determiner phrases (DPs), subsequently collapsing across grammatical genders (e.g., congruent: la maison and le bateau vs. incongruent: *le maison vs. *la bateau). Responses to individual genders cues in Spanish has been teased apart (masculine vs. feminine) as well as the effect of inhibitory control on gender processing (Beatty-Martínez, et al., 2020). A correlation between grammatical gender error recovery and increased inhibitory control was found. The current dissertation aims to dissect the processing and underlying neural mechanisms associated with masculine and feminine grammatical gender in L1 French, simultaneous French-English, and L1 English-L2 French speakers. A series of three experiments were conducted. The first two experiments used a masked priming lexical decision task where participants were presented with congruent (e.g., la maison) and incongruent (*le maison) DPs. The first experiment employed a behavioural version of the task and the second experiment focused on event-related brain potentials (ERPs). At a behavioural level, there was no indication of grammatical gender cue use. However, ERP results show that L1 speakers employ distinct processing mechanisms for feminine (P200; *le maison) incongruencies compared to feminine congruencies (la maison). The final experiment consisted of a self-paced reading task, where participants read sentences with congruent and incongruent DPs and an AX-CPT task as a measure of inhibitory control. L1 French and simultaneous French-English speakers exhibit processing difficulties with the incongruent feminine condition (*le maison) compared to the congruent feminine condition (la maison), as well as with the incongruent masculine condition (*la bateau) compared to the congruent masculine condition (le bateau). On the other hand, L2 speakers only show difficulty with the incongruent feminine condition in relation to the congruent feminine condition. Further, there was no relationship between inhibitory control and grammatical gender processing across groups. Overall, the results reflect an intricate picture of grammatical gender processing in French speakers. At a lexical level, L1 French speakers likely process incongruent feminine DPs as a lexical clash, potentially implementing further cognitive resources during processing. At a syntactic level, L1 French and simultaneous French-English speakers show processing difficulties behaviourally to gender incongruencies. L2 speakers seem to employ the use of masculine grammatical gender cues, implying that it is perhaps the presence of a feminine noun causing processing difficulty due to a feature mismatch. These results indicate that masculine and feminine genders employ distinct processing mechanisms and may be accessed in a contrasting manner.

In this thesis, I investigate the link between A-movement and online processing in eye-tracking and self-paced reading (SPR). A-movement refers to movement of an element to an argument position, where an element may be base-generated and hold a semantic role of the main predicate of the clause. I analyze six constructions in English, divided into three experimental pairings. Unaccusative constructions argued to involve movement are contrasted with unergatives as control, in a purely intransitive pairing. Transitive verb expectations are controlled by contrasting optional transitive constructions and purported movement in inchoative constructions. Argument alternation is taken into consideration in comparing instrumental constructions and possible movement in middle constructions. The results from the SPR experiment did not show significant differences in reading times or fixation durations between pairings in any regions. In the eye-tracking results, no significant effects were found at the verb region, where the syntactic complexity of movement could lead to greater processing effort. In the subject noun region of the optional transitive and inchoative constructions and instrumental and middle constructions, significant differences in gaze duration, total fixation duration, and go-past time were found. These results are compatible with theories of frequency effects. Differences at the adverb could support lexical or derivational approaches, as controls and experimental conditions had equal length fixations in our first pairing, controls had longer fixations in our second pairing, and experimental items had longer fixations in our third pairing. Ultimately, the results do not offer strong support for the derivational approach, and are not accounted for through a lexical approach. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

One of the prominent questions in modern psycholinguistics is the relationship between the grammar and the parser. Within the approach of Generative Grammar, this issue has been investigated in terms of the role that Principles of Universal Grammar may play in language processing. The aim of this research experiment is to investigate this topic. Specifically, this experiment aims to test whether the Minimal Structure Principle (MSP) plays a role in the processing of Preposition-Stranding versus Pied-Piped Constructions. This investigation is made with a self-paced reading task, an on-line processing test that measures participants’ unconscious reaction to language stimuli. Monolingual English speakers’ reading times of sentences with Preposition-Stranding and Pied-Piped Constructions are compared. Results indicate that neither construction has greater processing costs, suggesting that factors other than the MSP are active during language processing.

The present dissertation investigates grammatical gender representation and processing in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as a first (L1) and a second (L2) language. It mainly examines whether L2 can process gender agreement in a native-like manner, and the extent to which L2 processing is influenced by the properties of the L2 speakers’ L1. Additionally, it examines whether L2 gender agreement processing is influenced by noun animacy (animate and inanimate) and word order (verb-subject and subject-verb). A series of experiments using both online and offline techniques were conducted to address these questions. In all of the experiments, gender agreement between verb and nouns was examined. The first series of experiments examined native speakers of MSA (n=49) using a self-paced reading task (SPR), an event-related potential (ERP) experiment, and a grammaticality judgment (GJ) task. Results of these experiments revealed that native speakers were sensitive to grammatical violations. Native speakers showed longer reaction times (RT) in the SPR task, and a P600 effect in the ERP, in responses to sentences with mismatched gender agreement as compared to sentences with matched gender agreement. They also performed at ceiling in the GJ task. The second series of experiments examined L2 speakers of MSA (n=74) using an SPR task, and a GJ task. Both experiments included adult L2 speakers whom were divided into two subgroups, -Gender and +Gender, based on whether or not their L1s has a grammatical gender system. The results of both experiments revealed that both groups were sensitive to gender agreement violations. The L2 speakers showed longer RTs, in the SPR task, in responses to sentences with mismatched gender agreement as compared to sentences with matched gender agreement. No difference was found between the L2 groups in this task. The L2 speakers also performed well in the GJ task, as they were able to correctly identify the grammatical and ungrammatical sentences. Interestingly in this task, the -Gender group outperformed +Gender group, which could be due to proficiency in the L2 as the former group obtained a better score on the proficiency task, or it could be that +Gender group showed negative transfer from their L1s. Based on the results of these two experiments, this dissertation argues that late L2 speakers are not restricted to their L1 grammar, and thus, they are able to acquire gender agreement system of their L2 even if this feature is not instantiated in their L1. The results provide converging evidence for the FTFA rather than FFFH model, as it appears that the -Gender group was able to reset their L1 gender parameter according to the L2 gender values. Although the L2 speakers were advanced, they showed slower RTs than the native speakers in the SPR task, and lower accuracy in the GJT. However, it is possible that they are still in the process of acquiring gender agreement of MSA and have not reached their final stage of acquisition. This is supported by the fact that some L2 speakers from both -Gender and +Gender groups performed as well as native speakers in both SPR and GJ tasks. Regarding the effect of animacy, the L2 speakers had slower RT and lower accuracy on sentences with inanimate nouns than on those with animate ones, which is in line with previous L2 studies (Anton-Medez, 1999; Alarcón, 2009; Gelin, & Bugaiska, 2014). The native speakers, on the other hand, showed no effect of animacy in both SPR task and GJT. Further, no N400 effect was observed as a result of semantic gender agreement violations in the ERP experiment. Finally, the results revealed a potential effect of word order. Both the native and L2 speakers showed longer RTs on VS word order than SV word order in the SPR task. Further the native speakers showed earlier and greater P600 effect on VS word order than SV word order in the ERP. This result suggests that processing gender agreement violation is more complex in the VS word order than in the SV word order due to the inherent asymmetry in the subject-verb agreement system in the two-word orders in MSA.

This dissertation investigates how grammatical functions in transitive sentences (i.e., `subject' and `direct object') are distributed in written Swedish discourse with respect to morphosyntactic as well as semantic and referential (i.e., prominence-based) information. It also investigates how assignment of grammatical functions during on-line comprehension of transitive sentences in Swedish is influenced by interactions between morphosyntactic and prominence-based information. In the dissertation, grammatical functions are assumed to express role-semantic (e.g., Actor and Undergoer) and discourse-pragmatic (e.g., Topic and Focus) functions of NP arguments. Grammatical functions correlate with prominence-based information that is associated with these functions (e.g., animacy and definiteness). Because of these correlations, both prominence-based and morphosyntactic information are assumed to serve as argument interpretation cues during on-line comprehension. These cues are utilized in a probabilistic fashion. The weightings, interplay and availability of them are reflected in their distribution in language use, as shown in corpus data. The dissertation investigates these assumptions by using various methods in a triangulating fashion. The first contribution of the dissertation is an ERP (event-related brain potentials) experiment that investigates the ERP response to grammatical function reanalysis, i.e., a revision of a tentative grammatical function assignment, during on-line comprehension of transitive sentences. Grammatical function reanalysis engenders a response that correlates with the (re-)assignment of thematic roles to the NP arguments. This suggests that the comprehension of grammatical functions involves assigning role-semantic functions to the NPs. The second contribution is a corpus study that investigates the distribution of prominence-based, verb-semantic and morphosyntactic features in transitive sentences in written discourse. The study finds that overt morphosyntactic information about grammatical functions is used more frequently when the grammatical functions cannot be determined on the basis of word order or animacy. This suggests that writers are inclined to accommodate the understanding of their recipients by more often providing formal markers of grammatical functions in potentially ambiguous sentences. The study also finds that prominence features and their interactions with verb-semantic features are systematically distributed across grammatical functions and therefore can predict these functions with a high degree of confidence. The third contribution consists of three computational models of incremental grammatical function assignment. These models are based upon the distribution of argument interpretation cues in written discourse. They predict processing difficulties during grammatical function assignment in terms of on-line change in the expectation of different grammatical function assignments over the presentation of sentence constituents. The most prominent model predictions are qualitatively consistent with reading times in a self-paced reading experiment of Swedish transitive sentences. These findings indicate that grammatical function assignment draws upon statistical regularities in the distribution of morphosyntactic and prominence-based information in language use. Processing difficulties in the comprehension of Swedish transitive sentences can therefore be predicted on the basis of corpus distributions.

The present study investigates whether advanced adult L2 speakers comprehend the subtle linguistic cues that modal particles entail and seek to find if modal particles affect them in their responsibility attribution. Two groups of advanced L2 speakers of Swedish were tested; one group of L1 German speakers and one group of L1 English speakers. In an experiment that investigated responsibility attribution, participants read short stories that were manipulated with the modal particles nog and ju, to see if the use of these modal particles affected how they attributed  responsibility to a character in the short story. The L2 learners were tested to see if L1 background affects the L2 acquisition of modal particles. A control group of native Swedish speakers were also tested. As an exploratory and complementary measure, reading times were recorded for the critical sentences modified with ju and nog. The results show a main effect of group and a main effect of condition, but no interaction between the two. However, upon closer inspections of the numerical values in the groups, possible trends and curious directions are seen. The results yielded no significant differences between groups and conditions, and are presented as possible trends, and discussed. Contrary to the hypotheses, these trends are indicative of the English speakers being affected by the modal particles in the way that natives were expected to, while Germans showed a pattern that was different from native speakers. The results show no significant differences for the different conditions in the native control group. The results show no support for L1 transfer facilitation in the acquisition of modal particles.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:43:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1310227 bytes, checksum: 04da33952d4cd23496fa53ef618ff840 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation aims to explain how is the processing of coreference in people who stutter (PWS), reflecting on the possibility of an association between stuttering and the presence of difficulties in procedural memory, from the relationship between Alm's Dual Premotor Model (2005) and Ullman´s Declarative/Procedural Model (2001). It is proposed, then, a hypothesis about the connection between the presence of dysfunctions in procedural memory and the linguistic processing of PQG, which was investigated through the ASRT test (Alternating Serial Reaction Time) of procedural memory and two experiments of self-paced reading to the investigation of the phenomenon of inter and intrasentential coreference. In the ASRT test (experiment 1) performed to measure the degree of implicit learning of the participants, the findings suggested a tendency of the groups (PQC and FF) to behave distinctively. PQG showed a pattern of ascending curve, with a positive Spearman's coefficient for the variable cycle, expressing an increase in time of reaction as it increased the number of cycles (stimuli). Which we interpreted as a possible difficulty in the PQG in implicit learning of motor sequences. And the FF showed a descending curve, confirmed by a negative Spearman's coefficient for the variable cycle. Demonstrating that the procedural learning for this group occurred quickly, i.e., the reaction time of the FF reduced as there was an increase in the number of cycles. With these indications that PQG present difficulties in procedural memory, which could interfere in the processing of grammatical aspects according to our hypothesis, we set out to the investigation of the linguistic processing. In experiment 2, the intersentential coreference, performed with the aim at investigating the processing of lexical pronoun (PR) and the repeated name (NR) in the object position between FF and PQC, the results showed that there is no difference in this type of processing between FF and PQC, since both groups showed similar patterns in the average reading time of the critical segment. However, there were a significant effect for the variable tipo de retomada, showing that PR are processed faster than the NR, as previously found by Leitão (2005). Thus, in order to investigate how was grammar functioning in PQG and to attest the hypothesis defended in this dissertation, we set out to the analysis of the phenomenon of coreference in the intrassentential level, in order to isolate the grammatical aspect and eliminate possible interference from the pragmatic and contextual factors. The results pointed to the absence of main effect for the variable group, however, we found a marginally significant interaction effect between the variables group and type of sentence. This interaction can be explained by the fact that the groups react differently to the conditions, departing from the observation that there is an inverse behavior between them, i.e., to the extent that FF are faster in the grammatical condition and slower in agramatical condition, PQG show the opposite pattern. Which corroborates our hypothesis that PQG would have difficulties in perception of breach of grammatical principle. This possibility, confirmed by the statistical evidence foreseen for our findings with the increase of sample, that it directs our search for rejecting the null hypothesis. / Esta dissertação tem por objetivo explanar como se dá o processamento da correferência em pessoas que gaguejam (PQG), refletindo sobre a possibilidade de associação entre a gagueira e a presença de dificuldades na memória procedimental, a partir da relação entre o Modelo Pré-Motor Duplo de Alm (2005) e o Modelo Declarativo/Procedimental de Ullman (2001). Lança-se, então, uma hipótese acerca da conexão entre a presença de disfunções na memória procedimental e o processamento linguístico das PQG, investigada por meio do teste ASRT (Alternating Serial Reaction Time) de memória procedimental e dois experimentos de leitura automonitorada para a investigação do fenômeno da correferência inter e intrassentencial. No teste ASRT (experimento 1) realizado para medir o grau de aprendizagem implícita dos participantes, os resultados encontrados apontaram para uma tendência dos grupos (PQG e FF) a comportarem-se de maneira distinta. As PQG evidenciaram um padrão de curva ascendente, com coeficiente de Spearman positivo para a variável ciclo, expressando um aumento do tempo de reação à medida que se aumentava o número de ciclos (estímulos). O que interpretamos como uma possível dificuldade das PQG na aprendizagem implícita das sequências motoras. E os FF evidenciaram uma curva descendente, confirmada pelo coeficiente de Spearman negativo para a variável ciclo. Demonstrando que a aprendizagem procedimental para este grupo ocorreu de maneira mais rápida, ou seja, o tempo de reação dos FF reduzia à medida que se aumentava o número de ciclos. De posse desses indícios de que as PQG apresentam dificuldades na memória procedimental, o que poderia interferir no processamento dos aspectos gramaticais de acordo com a nossa hipótese, partimos para a investigação do processamento linguístico. No experimento 2, de correferência intersentencial, realizado com o intuito de investigar o processamento do pronome lexical (PR) e do nome repetido (NR) em posição de objeto entre FF e PQG, os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que não há diferença nesse tipo de processamento entre FF e PQG, uma vez que ambos os grupos apresentaram padrões semelhantes no tempo médio de leitura do segmento crítico. No entanto, houve efeito significativo para a variável tipo de retomada, constatando que os PR são mais rapidamente processados do que o NR, conforme já encontrado em Leitão (2005). Dessa forma, a fim de investigar como se dava o funcionamento da gramática nas PQG e atestar de modo mais categórico a hipótese defendida nesta dissertação, partimos para a análise do fenômeno da correferência em nível intrassentencial, objetivando isolar o aspecto gramatical e eliminar as possíveis interferências dos fatores pragmáticos e contextuais. Os resultados obtidos apontaram a ausência de efeito principal para a variável grupo, no entanto, constatou-se um efeito de interação marginalmente significativo entre as variáveis grupo e tipo de sentença. Essa interação pode ser explicada pelo fato de os grupos reagirem diferentemente às condições, partindo da observação que há um comportamento invertido entre eles, ou seja, na medida em que os FF s são mais rápidos na condição gramatical e mais lentos na condição agramatical, as PQG apresentam o padrão oposto. O que corrobora com a nossa hipótese de que as PQG teriam dificuldades na percepção da violação do princípio gramatical. Possibilidade essa, confirmada por meio das evidências estatísticas previstas para os nossos resultados com o aumento da amostra, que direciona a nossa pesquisa para a rejeição da hipótese nula.

The structure of embedded relative clauses in English may involve several grammatical elements, generating different grammatical rules with respect to word order. Studying the impact of first language (L1) transfer in the production of English embedded relative clauses is important to reveal valuable information about specific challenges in second language acquisition (SLA). Online methods used by researchers to measure the degree to which the L1 impacts the processing and learning of a second language (L2) have limitations regarding measurement of L1 transfer in English embedded relative clauses. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to present a new tool that enables the assessment of how structures in Swedish affect learning English as an L2, with special respect to embedded relative clauses. A new online tool, LinguaMapping, was developed by the author of this thesis, which enables the detection of Swedish L1 transfer in Englishembedded relative clauses. LinguaMapping is also proved to be more accessible, affordable, and sustainable than the online methods eye-tracking and self-paced reading. In the future, the supervisor of this project will submit LinguaMapping for pilot testing prior to conducting main studies of embedded relative clauses as well as other L2 phenomena to shed light on the role of L1 transfer in shaping L2 proficiency.

This study investigates second language (L2) acquisition of word orders and markers of collectivity in Chinese and Thai. One of the differences between Chinese and Thai is that Chinese nominal phrases appear with a “numeral + classifier + noun” word order while Thai phrases appear as “noun + numeral + classifier”. Another difference is that men, the Chinese collective marker, cannot be used with nouns referring to animals or indefinite nouns, while phûak, the Thai collective marker, can do so. Based on the cross-linguistic differences, an empirical study was conducted to answer whether Thai learners of Chinese and Chinese learners of Thai would be able to acquire target language (TL) structures that are different from those in their native language (L1) and whether they could reject incorrect TL structures. One hundred and forty-four participants were recruited to complete an acceptability judgment task and a self-paced reading task. It is found that both Chinese and Thai learners could perform native-like in their acceptance of TL word orders since early stages of acquisition. However, it took them until an advanced level to be able to completely reject incorrect TL word orders that resembled structures in their L1. Thai learners also faced difficulty rejecting the use of men with animal and indefinite nouns in their L2 Chinese. In contrast, Chinese learners tended to be successful in their acquisition of phûak. The results are interpreted in terms of roles of positive evidence and form-function transparency. In general, L2 learners tend to acquire a TL structure earlier when they can receive positive evidence in TL input and when a form-function connection of the structure is transparent. Nonetheless, these factors do not have an absolute effect on acquisition outcome since some learners may be able to use a probabilistic learning strategy to successfully acquire L2 knowledge even when positive evidence is unavailable.

Bei der Verarbeitung transitiver Sätze verwendet der Parser verschiedene Informationen, wie die Wortstellung, die Belebtheit und die Kasusmarkierung der Argumente, um eine Repräsentation der im Satz beschriebenen Situation aufzubauen. Frühere psycholinguistische Arbeiten zeigen, dass zwei belebte Argumente in einem Satz zusätzliche Verarbeitungskosten verursachen, außer wenn andere Informationen die Zuweisung der grammatischen und thematischen Rollen an die Argumente erlauben. In kasusmarkierenden Sprachen wie Deutsch ist einer dieser Hinweise die morphologische Kasusmarkierung. Die meisten zweistelligen deutschen Verben weisen ihren Argumenten das kanonische Nominativ-Akkusativ-Kasusmuster zu. Eine kleine Gruppe von zweistelligen Verben weist jedoch das nichtkanonische Nominativ-Dativ-Muster zu. Diese Verben unterschieden sich in ihrer Syntax und Semantik von kanonisch transitiven Verben und verursachen beim Satzverstehen höhere Verarbeitungskosten. In dieser Dissertation wird untersucht, wie die Verarbeitung von Argumentbelebtheitskontrasten während der Satzverarbeitung vom verbalen Kasuszuweisungsmuster moduliert wird. Ich stelle die Ergebnisse vier verschiedener Experimente vor (selbstgetaktetes Lesen, Blickbewegungsmessungen und EKP-Messungen). Alle experimentellen Methoden zeigen, dass der Effekt der Argumentbelebtheitskonstraste mit dem Effekt des verbalen Kasuszuweisungsmusters interagiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen ein detaillierteres Bild der Satzverarbeitung und tragen zur Vereinigung der Transitivätsbegriffe in theoretischer Linguistik und Psycholinguistik bei. / During the comprehension of transitive sentences, the parser uses different kinds of information like word order, the arguments'' animacy status and case marking to build a representation of the situation the sentence describes. Previous research in psycholinguistics has shown that two animate arguments in a sentence cause additional processing costs, unless other cues allow the assignment of grammatical and thematic roles to the arguments. In case-marking languages like German, one of these cues is morphological case marking. While most German verbs assign the canonical nominative-accusative case pattern to their arguments, a small group of verbs assign noncanonical nominative-dative. These verbs differ from standard transitive verbs both in their syntax and their semantics, and are known to cause higher processing cost during comprehension. This dissertation examines how the processing of argument animacy contrasts during sentence comprehension is modulated by the verbal case marking pattern. I report the results of four different experiments, using self-paced reading time measurements, eyetracking and ERP measurements. All experimental methods show that the effect of argument animacy contrasts interacts with the effects of the verbal case marking pattern. The findings add further details to the existing knowledge about sentence comprehension, and combine perspectives on transitivity from theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics.