Cross-linguistic Differences and The Role Of Working Memory in Processing Double-embedded Relative Clausesed relative clauses

Date
2016
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Abstract
English double-embedded clauses, from which the middle verb is omitted, are often perceived as grammatically correct and processed faster than clauses with all mandatory verbs. This phenomenon is called Grammaticality Illusion (GI). It has been hypothesised that this effect occurs as a result of a failing working memory. This is because such sentences require the reader to keep several incomplete dependencies in working memory (WM). GI has been consistently found in languages like French and English, but not in German. This led to the assumptions that if GI is caused by failing WM: German native speakers and potentially proficient speakers of German might therefore have a more robust WM. This thesis examines the role of WM in the processing of the double-embedded clauses. It also focuses on the differences in the processing of these clauses among participants in three groups: English-German bilinguals, English monolinguals and German native speakers.
Description
Keywords
Education--Bilingual and Multicultural, Linguistics, Language--Modern, Literature--English, Literature--Germanic, Psychology--Cognitive, Psychology--Experimental
Citation
Lisanik, M. (2016). Cross-linguistic Differences and The Role Of Working Memory in Processing Double-embedded Relative Clausesed relative clauses (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25492