二语代词性别一致性加工的认知神经机制

The Neurocognitive Mechanism of Gender Agreement Processing in L2 Pronoun Resolution

本研究采用ERP技术来探究中国英语学习者在英语反身代词消解过程中加工生物性别一致性规则的认知神经机制,探讨二语水平在其中所起的作用。实验中,不同二语水平的两组被试阅读包含反身代词性别错误的英语句子,随后比较他们在加工反身代词时的ERP及句末语法判断正确率。结果显示:性别错误在低水平组没有诱发任何效应,在高水平组则诱发了显著的P600效应;二语水平与N400及P600时间窗内的差异波幅值相关;低水平组在性别不一致条件下的语法判断正确率显著低于高水平组。研究表明,不同二语水平学习者加工性别一致性规则的神经机制有质的差异;随着二语水平的提高,学习者加工二语生物性别一致性的神经机制会向母语者趋近。

An ERP experiment was conducted to explore the neurocogmuw J agreement processing in L2 reflexive pronoun resolution by Chinese EFL learners, as well as the potential influence of L2 proficiency on such mechanism. Two groups of participants, differing in self-rated L2 proficiency, read English sentences either with or without antecedent-reflexive gender violation. Recorded and compared were their ERP responses to the reflexives, as well as the sentence-final grammaticality judgment accuracy. The results revealed that at a lower proficiency level, no violation effect was observed while at a higher proficiency level, gender anomaly elicited a P600 effect. The amplitudes of difference wave in the N400 and P600 time windows were correlated with participants＇ L2 proficiency. Besides, for the lower proficiency group, their grammaticality judgment accuracy was significantly lower in the gender incongruent condition. The results suggest qualitative neural differences between learners differing in L2 proficiency, and that with the improvement of L2 proficiency, the neural mechanism of L2 biological gender agreement processing in Chinese EFL learners could become more native-like.