Investigating the Impact of Contextual Semantic Information on L2 Garden Path Sentence Comprehension
Date of Award
5-11-2025
Date Published
6-18-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
Advisor(s)
Amanda Brown
Keywords
ambiguity resolution;contextual plausibility;garden-path sentences;processing instruction;self-paced reading;sentence processing
Subject Categories
Linguistics | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
This study investigates whether contextual information aids syntactic reanalysis in garden-path sentences and whether native (L1) English speakers and L1 Chinese learners of English (L2) differ in using such cues. Using a self-paced reading paradigm, 29 participants (5 L1, 24 L2) read sentences varying in syntactic ambiguity and contextual plausibility. Reading times in key disambiguation regions (e.g., auxiliary verb, participles) and comprehension accuracy were analyzed. L1 participants showed longer reading times when context mismatched syntax, indicating context-sensitive online processing consistent with constraint-based models. In contrast, L2 participants showed no significant context effects, suggesting difficulty using context in real-time parsing. No significant comprehension differences were found across context conditions for either group, possibly due to the small L1 sample, subtle contextual cues, or discourse-level memory demands. These findings highlight a gap in L2 learners’ ability to integrate contextual cues, which has direct implications for language teaching. Drawing on Processing Instruction approaches, the study proposes instructional strategies that explicitly train learners to attend to and utilize contextual cues for syntactic disambiguation. By fostering greater sensitivity to discourse-level cues, language educators can improve learners' real-time processing and language comprehension skills.
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Lin, Jiaxing, "Investigating the Impact of Contextual Semantic Information on L2 Garden Path Sentence Comprehension" (2025). Theses - ALL. 959.
https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/959
