Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T17:22:15.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ERP signatures of subject–verb agreement in L2 learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2007

LANG CHEN ,
HUA SHU ,
YOUYI LIU ,
JINGJING ZHAO  and
PING LI
LANG CHEN
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
HUA SHU
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
YOUYI LIU
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
JINGJING ZHAO
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
PING LI
Affiliation:
University of Richmond
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this study we examined ERP (event-related-potential) responses in the morphosyntactic processing of subject–verb agreements by L2 Chinese learners of English. Fifteen proficient L2 learners and fifteen native English speakers were presented with English sentences that varied in the grammaticality of the sentence with respect to subject–verb agreement. Our results indicate that late L2 learners show distinct ERP responses from native speakers in the processing of syntactic features that are absent in their L1, even when their behavioral patterns are similar to those of native speakers. The results are taken to support the proposal that language-specific experiences with L1 shape the neural structure of processing in L2.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 10 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Neurocognitive Approaches to Bilingualism: Asian Languages , July 2007 , pp. 161 - 174
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This research was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (#60534080, #30470574) to HS and a grant from the NSF (BCS-0131829) to PL.