ERIC Number: EJ1176596
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Mar
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0272-2631
EISSN: N/A
Lexical and Syntactic Congruency in L2 Predictive Gender Processing
Hopp, Holger; Lemmerth, Natalia
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, v40 n1 p171-199 Mar 2018
This article investigates how lexical and syntactic differences in L1 and L2 grammatical gender affect L2 predictive gender processing. In a visual-world eye-tracking experiment, 24 L1 Russian adult learners and 15 native speakers of German were tested. Both Russian and German have three gender classes. Yet, they differ in lexical congruency, that is, whether a noun ("house") is assigned to the same or a different gender class. Further, gender is syntactically realized on postnominal suffixes in Russian but on prenominal articles in German. For adjectives, both Russian and German mark gender on suffixes. In predictive gender processing, we find interactions of proficiency and congruency for gender-marked articles. Advanced L2 learners show nativelike gender prediction throughout. High-intermediate learners display asymmetries according to syntactic and lexical congruency. Predictive gender processing obtains for all nouns in the (syntactically congruent) adjective condition, yet only for lexically congruent nouns in the (syntactically incongruent) article condition.
Descriptors: Syntax, Second Language Learning, Form Classes (Languages), Russian, German, Morphemes, Advanced Students, Language Proficiency, Language Processing, Prediction, Grammar, Nouns, Native Language, Language Research, Eye Movements, Adults
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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