Relative clause parsing in L1 Russian -L2 English презентация

different languages.

"incoming lexical items") tend to be associated with the phrase or clause currently being processed rather than with structures farther back in the sentence

both languages? Do they prefer high attachment( 1 Spec-IP) or low attachment(2 Spec-IP)?
Do Russian learners of English use Russian parsing strategy for their secong language?

Russia, who study English in the faculty of Languages and Literature
Age=20
Study English for approximately 12 years at school and with tutors
All have B2+ level (or upper-intermediate) by results of placement test

sentences or slightly changed but in English (was given in a week from eliciting results from the first questionnaire)
Materials= 8 grammatical sentences (4 ambiguous relative clauses with 2 potential antecedents and 4 anaphora sentences). Sentenses were mixed in random way in order that participants wouldn`t understand the aim of the experiment

his children.
Who lives with children a) friend b) professor



Собака укусила друга профессора,который живет со своими сыновьями.
Кто живет с сыновьями: а)друг; б)профессор

studied in California.
Who studied in California: a) daughter b) psychologist



Анна влюбилась в сына психолога,который учился в Москве.
Кто учился в Москве: а)сын; б)психолог

learning Spanish in Mexico.
Who was learning Spanish: a) daughter b) teacher

Андрей познакомился с дочерью учительницы, которая изучала английский язык в Калифорнии.
Кто изучал английский язык: а)дочь; б)учительница

a very good man.
Who is living next door: a) son b) friend



Сын моего знакомого, который учился в Санкт-Петербурге, очень хороший человек.
Кто учился в Санкт-Петербурге: а)сын знакомого; б)знакомый

to low attachment(20%). It was predictable, as Russian belongs to high-attaching languages.
Russian B2+ level English learners prefer high attachment(59%) in English questionnaire to low attachment(41%). They use their parsing strategy from Russian, but the percentage difference is not that significant as in the first result, maybe because they are starting to get involved into English, receiving more input in English.

ambiguity while speaking Russian?
Because of intonation and stress (ex.:Собака укусила друга профессора,который живет со своими сыновьями. The dog bit a friend of a professor who lives with his children.)

Because in Russian we have the relative pronoun который which is changing in gender:который(masculine),которая(feminine), которое(neuter) and it is translated in English as "who, which, that",English relative pronoun doesn`t have gender, that`s why there are more ambiguous RC in English.(compare Rus:Ты знаешь маму моего знакогомого, который(masculine) учился на врача? with English Do you know the mother of the guy who studied to become a doctor )

Irina Sekerina ( City university of NY) (http://www.uni-potsdam.de/aladdin/fileadmin/projects/aladdin/assets/Sekerina_DGfS2016.pdf)
“Relative clause attachment in bilinguals and monolinguals” by Eva Fernandez(City university of NY) (http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~efernand/abralin07/fdez2002.pdf)
“Relative clause attachment preferences in Second Language Learners` parsing performance” by Guillermo Rodriguez (http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1394&context=pwpl)
Web (http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/kotoryj.html)