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Part of
Research on Second Language Processing and Processing Instruction: Studies in honor of Bill VanPatten
Edited by Michael J. Leeser, Gregory D. Keating and Wynne Wong
[Studies in Bilingualism 62] 2021
► pp. 53–124

Chapter 3
The processing of subject shifts in L2 Spanish

An examination of L2 learners’ use of inflectional morphology and reliance on overt subject pronouns

| University of Central Arkansas

A vital part of understanding language is linking referring expressions to the appropriate antecedents. In null subject languages like Spanish, person-number inflections on verbs are essential to ensuring the appropriate connections are made. However, second language (L2) learners have limited processing capabilities (VanPatten, 1996, 2015), and may rely on strategies that steer them away from inflections. The current study examines whether first language English/L2 Spanish learners process verb inflections that signal subject shifts or if they prefer to process lexical items (i.e., overt subjects) as predicted by VanPatten’s lexical preference principle. The results of this study indicate that non-natives do not rely on inflections to link antecedents and referring expressions, and that L2 processing is facilitated by overt subject pronouns.

Keywords: L2 processing, null subjects, overt subjects, verbal morphology, L2 reading, input processing, lexical preference principle
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Background and motivation
    • Subject shifts in Spanish
    • Processing strategies in L2 acquisition
    • Research questions
  • Method and procedure
    • Participants
      • Non-native speakers
      • Native speakers
    • Materials
      • Subject shift stimuli
      • Test of inflectional morphology
    • Procedure
    • Scoring and analysis
    • Coding scheme for linear mixed models
  • Results
    • Native speakers
      • Results of inflectional morphology
        • 1sg/3sg condition
        • 2sg/3pl condition
      • Subject shift stimuli
        • 1sg/3sg condition
        • 2sg/3pl condition
    • Non-native speakers
      • Test of inflectional morphology
        • 1sg/3sg condition
        • 2sg/3pl condition
      • Subject shift stimuli
        • 1sg/3sg condition
        • 2sg/3pl condition
    • Summary of results
  • Discussion
  • Limitations and future research
  • Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 17 March 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.62.03joh
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