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Article published In:
Current State of Second Language Studies in Japan
Edited by John Matthews and Shigenori Wakabayashi
[Journal of Second Language Studies 6:2] 2023
► pp. 319–347

Second language processing of English definite noun phrases by Spanish speakers and Japanese speakers

ORCID logo | Gunma Prefectural Women’s University
| Gunma Prefectural Women’s University
| Gunma Prefectural Women’s University

The present study examines the acquisition of definite noun phrases (NPs) in L2 English. Both English and Spanish have a definite article, but Japanese lacks articles, though definite anaphoric and definite non-anaphoric are present to some degree through the optional use of sono (the/that). A self-paced reading task was administered to assess real-time processing in the comprehension of different types of definite NPs by L2-English learners. The self-paced reading results show processing of definite NPs is influenced by proficiency level rather than L1 transfer effects. We discuss our findings in reference to the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis and the Lexical Learning/Lexical Transfer model and suggest that our data support the latter but not the former.

Keywords: definite, anaphoric, non-anaphoric, taxonomic, bridging, L2 acquisition, Morphological Congruency Hypothesis, Lexical Learning/Lexical Transfer model
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Definiteness expressed in definite NPs
    • 2.1Morphology and features in Spanish and Japanese
  • 3.Previous SLA studies on the acquisition of definite NPs
    • 3.1Off-line tasks
    • 3.2On-line tasks
  • 4.Experiment 1 – L1-Spanish L2-English
    • 4.1Method
    • 4.2Procedure
    • 4.3Participants
    • 4.4SPR results for native controls and L1-Spanish speakers
  • 5.Experiment 2 – L1-Japanese L2-English
    • 5.1L1-Japanese participants
    • 5.2SPR results for L1-Japanese speakers
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1L1-Spanish speakers
    • 6.2L1-Japanese speakers
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Appendix
    • 1.Background questionnaire
    • 2.Stimulus list (test items)
  • References
Published online: 27 February 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jsls.22010.sna
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