Japanese EFL learners' use of verb subcategorization information in processing filler-gap dependency structures: A study using eye-tracking technique in reading

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26580106
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: NAKAMURA Chie 東京大学, 総合文化研究科, 学術研究員 (30726823)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): HARADA Yasunari 早稲田大学, 法学学術院, 教授 (80189711)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 心理言語学 / 第二言語習得 / 英語教育 / 眼球運動計測 / 文処理

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to investigate whether verb information is all together ignored in L2 processing (coarse-grain account) or it is simply too weak to override strong general structural preference of analyzing an NP directly following a verb as the verb’s direct object (restricted fine-grain account), this study tested sentences with unbounded dependency structure using eye-tracking technique in reading. The purpose of the study was to examine whether Japanese EFL learners would still ignore the verb’s subcategorization information and adopt a direct object analysis even when an NP does not appear following the verb. The results demonstrated that Japanese EFL learners have and use verb subcategorization as well as thematic information in the processing of filler-gap dependencies, providing support for the restricted fine-grain account in L2 sentence processing.

Free Research Field

心理言語学