The processing of intrasentential anaphoric subject pronouns in L2 Spanish

Juan P. Comínguez, Nuria Sagarra, Aurora Bel, Estela García-Alcaraz

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

This paper examines whether L2 learners of Spanish can attain native-like interpretive and parsing patterns in intrasentential subject anaphor resolution, and the extent to which these patterns are modulated by L1 transfer. Adult advanced L2 learners of Spanish with different L1s (Moroccan Arabic, a null-subject language, and English, a non-null subject language) completed an experiment utilizing online (the moving window paradigm) and offline (answers to comprehension questions) techniques. Both Arabic and English learners of Spanish performed in a native-like way at the interpretive and parsing levels. These patterns suggest that L1 transfer plays no crucial role when interpreting and processing intrasentential anaphoric subjects at least at the advanced level.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationRomance Languages and Linguistic Theory 11. Selected papers from the 44th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL), London, Ontario
EditorsPerpinan Silvia, David Heap, Itziri Moreno-Villamar, Adriana Soto-Corominas
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company
Pages247-264
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9789027265340
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Publication series

NameRomance Languages and Linguistic Theory
Volume11
ISSN (Print)1574-552X

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Language and Linguistics

Keywords

  • Intrasentential subject anaphora
  • L2 Spanish
  • Language parsing
  • Null-subject languages
  • Subject pronouns

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