Processing relative clauses in Chinese as a second language

• Published in: Second language research Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 439 - 461
• Main Author: Xu, Yi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications Ltd 01.10.2014; SAGE Publications; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Asymmetry; Chinese; Chinese as a second language; Chinese languages; Classifiers; English; Error rates; Form Classes (Languages); Grammatical subject; Judgment; Language; Language Acquisition; Language Processing; Language Research; Learning Theories; Linguistic Theory; Listening Comprehension; Native Speakers; Nonnative languages; Nouns; Phrase Structure; Preferences; Psycholinguistics; Reading strategies; Relative Clauses; Second language acquisition; Second Language Learning; Semantics; Sentences; Statistical Analysis; Structural Analysis (Linguistics); Studies; Syntactic Processing; Task Analysis; Tukeys Test; Word Order; Xiao Li; United States > US; filler-gap; psycholinguistic theories; structural distance; subject preference; perspective shift; linear distance; Chinese relative clauses; demonstrative-classifier; canonical word order; second language processing
• ISSN: 0267-6583; 1477-0326
• DOI: 10.1177/0267658313511485

This project investigates second language (L2) learners' processing of four types of Chinese relative clauses crossing extraction types and demonstrative-classifier (DCI) positions. Using a word order judgment task with a whole-sentence reading technique, the study also discusses how psycholinguistic theories bear explanatory power in L2 data. An overall preference for DCI-first structures and an advantage of DCI-subject relative clauses over the other three structures were found. Results were largely compatible with the filler-gap domain theory and indicated a weak subject-gap advantage. These motivations are subject to influences from other factors, and a multi-constraint proposal was proposed.