Processing focus in native and non-native speakers of English: An eye-tracking study in the visual world paradigm

Haoyan Ge; Iris Mulders; Xin Kang; Aoju Chen; Virginia  Yip

doi:10.1017/s0142716421000230

Processing focus in native and non-native speakers of English: An eye-tracking study in the visual world paradigm

Haoyan Ge^*, Iris Mulders, Xin Kang, Aoju Chen, Virginia Yip

^*Corresponding author for this work

ILS - Language acquisition, processing and disorders

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

This "visual-world"eye-tracking study investigated the processing of focus in English sentences with preverbal only by L2 learners whose L1 was either Cantonese or Dutch, compared to native speakers of English. Participants heard only-sentences with prosodic prominence either on the object or on the verb and viewed pictures containing an object-focus alternative and a verb-focus alternative. We found that both L2 groups showed delayed eye movements to the alternative of focus, which was different from the native speakers of English. Moreover, Dutch learners of English were even slower than Cantonese learners of English in directing fixations to the alternative of focus. We interpreted the delayed fixation patterns in both L2 groups as evidence of difficulties in integrating multiple interfaces in real time. Furthermore, the similarity between English and Dutch in the use of prosody to mark focus hindered Dutch learners' L2 processing of focus, whereas the difference between English and Cantonese in the realization of focus facilitated Cantonese learners' processing of focus in English.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1057-1088
Number of pages	32
Journal	Applied Psycholinguistics
Volume	42
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/s0142716421000230
Publication status	Published - Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank James Britton, Alex Brouwer, and Rachida Ganga for their assistance with the study. We thank our participants and gratefully acknowledge the support from the Utrecht Institute of Linguistics – OTS, the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre, the Research Institute for Bilingual Learning and Teaching, the University of Cambridge – CUHK Joint Laboratory for Bilingualism, and the CUHK – Peking University – University System of Taiwan Joint Research Centre for Language and Human Complexity. We have benefited from the discussion with Stephen Matthews, Roumyana Slabakova, Hannah Lam, Ziyin Mai, and Jiangling Zhou. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and helpful suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Cantonese learners of English
Dutch learners of English
L2 processing
focus
visual world eye tracking

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processing-focus-in-native-and-non-native-speakers-of-english-an-eye-tracking-study-in-the-visual-world-paradigmFinal published version, 977 KBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

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title = "Processing focus in native and non-native speakers of English: An eye-tracking study in the visual world paradigm",

abstract = "This {"}visual-world{"}eye-tracking study investigated the processing of focus in English sentences with preverbal only by L2 learners whose L1 was either Cantonese or Dutch, compared to native speakers of English. Participants heard only-sentences with prosodic prominence either on the object or on the verb and viewed pictures containing an object-focus alternative and a verb-focus alternative. We found that both L2 groups showed delayed eye movements to the alternative of focus, which was different from the native speakers of English. Moreover, Dutch learners of English were even slower than Cantonese learners of English in directing fixations to the alternative of focus. We interpreted the delayed fixation patterns in both L2 groups as evidence of difficulties in integrating multiple interfaces in real time. Furthermore, the similarity between English and Dutch in the use of prosody to mark focus hindered Dutch learners' L2 processing of focus, whereas the difference between English and Cantonese in the realization of focus facilitated Cantonese learners' processing of focus in English. ",

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author = "Haoyan Ge and Iris Mulders and Xin Kang and Aoju Chen and Virginia Yip",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank James Britton, Alex Brouwer, and Rachida Ganga for their assistance with the study. We thank our participants and gratefully acknowledge the support from the Utrecht Institute of Linguistics – OTS, the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre, the Research Institute for Bilingual Learning and Teaching, the University of Cambridge – CUHK Joint Laboratory for Bilingualism, and the CUHK – Peking University – University System of Taiwan Joint Research Centre for Language and Human Complexity. We have benefited from the discussion with Stephen Matthews, Roumyana Slabakova, Hannah Lam, Ziyin Mai, and Jiangling Zhou. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and helpful suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.",

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AU - Yip, Virginia

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank James Britton, Alex Brouwer, and Rachida Ganga for their assistance with the study. We thank our participants and gratefully acknowledge the support from the Utrecht Institute of Linguistics – OTS, the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre, the Research Institute for Bilingual Learning and Teaching, the University of Cambridge – CUHK Joint Laboratory for Bilingualism, and the CUHK – Peking University – University System of Taiwan Joint Research Centre for Language and Human Complexity. We have benefited from the discussion with Stephen Matthews, Roumyana Slabakova, Hannah Lam, Ziyin Mai, and Jiangling Zhou. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and helpful suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/7

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N2 - This "visual-world"eye-tracking study investigated the processing of focus in English sentences with preverbal only by L2 learners whose L1 was either Cantonese or Dutch, compared to native speakers of English. Participants heard only-sentences with prosodic prominence either on the object or on the verb and viewed pictures containing an object-focus alternative and a verb-focus alternative. We found that both L2 groups showed delayed eye movements to the alternative of focus, which was different from the native speakers of English. Moreover, Dutch learners of English were even slower than Cantonese learners of English in directing fixations to the alternative of focus. We interpreted the delayed fixation patterns in both L2 groups as evidence of difficulties in integrating multiple interfaces in real time. Furthermore, the similarity between English and Dutch in the use of prosody to mark focus hindered Dutch learners' L2 processing of focus, whereas the difference between English and Cantonese in the realization of focus facilitated Cantonese learners' processing of focus in English.

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Processing focus in native and non-native speakers of English: An eye-tracking study in the visual world paradigm

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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