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Article In: Pragmatics & Cognition: Online-First Articles

The second language acquisition of reflexives in Japanese by Chinese and Korean learners

A pragmatic approach

ORCiD logo with link | Xi’an Jiaotong — Liverpool University
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Abstract
This study investigates the second language processing and interpretation of the Japanese reflexive zibun ‘self’ by Chinese and Korean learners of Japanese. This is motivated by the pragmatic influence on anaphoric resolution in these three languages, allowing insight into positive pragmatic transfer regarding both the processing and interpretation of zibun. Guided by the Emergentist Reflexivity Approach, these pragmatic effects are manipulated to affect the learners’ reading of zibun using a self-paced reading experiment with antecedent judgements and introspective measures. Results show that the learners and native speakers alike are influenced by pragmatic factors, but there appears to be different weighing of cues in the learner groups in their real-time processing. Overall, the data supports the view of positive pragmatic transfer of anaphoric strategies into the learners’ second language, which in turn supports the idea that pragmatics regulates reflexive pronouns in these three languages.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.A theoretical review on reflexives
  • 3.Previous SLA research
  • 4.The current study
  • 5.Methodology
    • 5.1Experimental procedures
    • 5.2Data processing and analysis
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Self-paced reading
      • 6.1.1Native speakers
      • 6.1.2Learners
    • 6.2Antecedent judgements
      • 6.2.1Native speakers
      • 6.2.2Learners
    • 6.3Judgement reaction time
      • 6.3.1Native speakers
      • 6.3.2Learners
    • 6.4Confidence measures
      • 6.4.1Native speakers
      • 6.4.2Learners
    • 6.5Knowledge choice
      • 6.5.1Native speakers
      • 6.5.2Learners
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Glossing abbreviations used
  • Author queries
  • References
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