Processing Chinese relative clauses in context by Italian L3 learners

• Published in: Second language research Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 893 - 912
• Main Authors: Hu, Shenai, Toneatto, Carlo, Pozzi, Silvia, Guasti, Maria Teresa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.10.2022; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Chinese as a second language; Context; Contrastive Linguistics; Foreign Countries; Italian; Italian language; Language Processing; Linguistic Theory; Mandarin; Mandarin Chinese; Multilingualism; Native Speakers; Nouns; Phrase Structure; Preferences; Reading Processes; Reading Rate; Relative clauses; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Task Analysis; Third language learning; Trilingualism; Undergraduate Students; Italy; context; word order; Chinese relative clauses; third language processing; the subject/object asymmetry
• ISSN: 0267-6583; 1477-0326
• DOI: 10.1177/02676583211002607

The present study investigates third language (L3) learners’ processing of Chinese subject and object relative clauses in a supportive context. Using a self-paced reading task, we tested native Italian L3 learners of Mandarin Chinese and native Chinese speakers. The results showed that the L3 learners read significantly more slowly than the native speakers in all the target regions. Also, in the head noun region, they read object relative clauses significantly more slowly compared to subject relative clauses, indicating a preference for the latter. By contrast, for the native speakers, no significant differences were observed between subject and object relative clauses in any of the target regions. The L3 learners’ performance offers support for the Structural Distance Hypothesis over the Dependency Locality Theory, and the contrast between the two populations indicates that context is at play in the processing of relative clauses.