[PS-2.6] Working memory effects on processing L2 word order

Sagarra, N. 1 , Hanson Seibert, A. 1 , Jacobs, A. 2 , Cherewka, A. 1 & Hauser, C. 1

1 Pennsylvania State University
2 Temple University

Studies with native speakers of a fixed word order L1 (English) learning a flexible word order L2 (Italian, Spanish) show that the learners process the first noun/pronoun they encounter as the subject (VanPatten, 2004). Recent research comparing learners that have an L1 with flexible word order to those that have an L1 with rigid word order acquiring an L2 with flexible word order lack offline data (Isabelli, 2008) or cannot draw conclusions regarding the reanalysis of OS sentences because the technique (self-paced paradigm) does not allow regressions (Hopp, 2006; Havik et al., 2009). Our study takes one step forward by examining how native speakers of a rigid (English) and a flexible (Romanian) word order language process SVO and OVS sentences in Spanish at different L2 proficiency levels, using processing capacity measures, an online task that allows for reanalysis (eyetracking), and an offline task (grammaticality judgments). For the eyetracking task, 96 learners of Spanish (half L1 English, half L1 Romanian) and 72 monolingual controls read SVO and OVS sentences in Spanish (or their L1 for control groups) and chose one of four pictures: [+/-grammatically congruent, +/- semantically congruent]. For the grammaticality judgment task, they read similar sentences and identified whether they were correct or not, and if not, they corrected the sentences. The results from both tasks indicated a preference for SVO interpretation, and working memory data confirmed that such preference was due to cognitive demands. These findings are in line with Havik et al.’s (2009) results that high, but not low, working memory span learners processed long object relative clauses like native speakers. Our data suggest that it is working memory, rather than universal processing strategies, that determines the preference for an SVO interpretation at early stages of acquisition, and that language experience influences when L1 transfer takes place.