A Study of Second Language Processing of Relative Clause and Wh-question Constructions by Japanese Learners of English

本研究的目的是阐明成年日语使用者在二语英语习得过程中理解句子所使用的实时加工策略的类型。特别是，针对关系从句和wh疑问句这两个被认为是最难习得的结构之一，我们将通过在线实验来考察二语学习者对句子的处理情况。实验内容如下：受试者使用像我上个月雇佣的那位女士那样的刺激，努力工作，这就是我们听说迪克买下的房子，后者因为Subsiency的违规而不符合语法。受试者在自定节奏的移动窗户条件下阅读句子。在这项技术中，他们坐在电脑屏幕前，每句话都显示在电脑屏幕上，一次一个单词/短语。单词/短语在句子中呈线性位置，从左到右在屏幕上移动。按下按钮后，先前的单词/短语消失)。这给出了参与者理解句子的速度的衡量标准，以及句子中哪些点很难处理的决定。参与者被分为几个级别，根据牛津分级考试衡量他们的英语水平。实验以先导性实验告终，由于在刺激、程序设置、寻找足够多的参与者(特别是高级英语学习者和非日语学习者)方面存在缺陷，所以我们无法得到一开始预期的结果。问题堆积如山，因此，我们必须继续制定研究计划，并在足够多的参与者的情况下调查二语习得的机制。为此，我们现在正在计划一项新的实验。

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the types of real-time processing strategies adult Japanese speakers use to comprehend sentences in the acquisition of L2 English. Especially, focusing on the constructions of relative clauses and wh-questions which are considered one of the most difficult structures for them to acquire due to the great difference between Japanese and English, we will examine sentence processing by L2 learners using an on-line experiment in which we measure their reaction times to understand the constructions.The experiment was as follows. Using stimuli like The lady who(m) I employed last month works hard and *This is the house which we heard the news that Dick bought, the latter of which is ungrammatical because of the violation of Subjacency, the participants read the sentences in the self-paced moving window condition. In this technique, they sit in front of a computer screen and each sentence is presented on the computer screen, one word/phrase at a time. The word/phrase appear in linear position in the sentence moving across the screen from left to right. Upon pressing the pushbutton, previous word/phrase disappears). This gives a measure of how fast participants understand the sentence and a decision of which points in the sentence are difficult to process.Participants are classified into several levels ob the basis of their English proficiency as measured by Oxford Placement Test. The experiment ended up with a pilot experiment due defects in stimuli, setting of program, finding enough participants (especially, advanced and non-Japanese learners of English), so that we could not have results we had expected at the outset. Problems are piling up, and hence, we have to continue to elaborate a study plan and investigate the mechanisms of L2 acquisition with the sufficient number of participants. To this end, we are now planning a new experiment.