Sentence Comprehension in Similar Syntactic Structure - Term Paper Example

? Sentence Comprehension in Similar Syntactic Structure Sentence Comprehension in Similar Syntactic Structure Introduction The aim of the present paper is to determine sentence comprehension in similar syntactic structure through critically analyzing two articles. It is interesting to determine whether prior language processing and similarity in syntactic structure influences sentence comprehension in people. The task of understanding the influence of prior language processing and similarity in syntactic structure influences sentence comprehension in people is undertaken in two articles; priming prepositional-phrase attachment during comprehension by Branigan, Pickering, and McLean (2005) and lexically independent priming in online sentence comprehension by Traxler (2008). The critical analysis of the two articles will also include a discussion of findings that are (in) compatible with each other, and other relevant comparisons between them. Furthermore, assessment of the extent to which the articles achieves what they claim, is also an important part of the present research paper. The paper also presents a proposal for a new experiment in the same area. The proposal will provide a summary of the assessment that can and cannot be concluded from the examined articles. This will help me propose a further experiment to enhance understanding in this area of psycholinguistics, resolve and address unresolved issues of the studies under review. The proposed experiment will include a hypothesis to be tested, a description of the methodology to be used, examples of the stimuli to be used, at least one complete item from each condition, and a description of the properties of the stimulus set as a whole and interpretation of possible results.  Critical Summaries and Comparisons In order to understand the broader aspect of the impact of similar syntactic structure on sentence comprehension in psycholinguistic research, two articles have been selected. The article by Branigan, Pickering, and McLean (2005) suggests that past language process influences the ways in which individuals interpret language. Similarly, Traxler (2008) investigates conditions in which individuals interpret the pairs of sentences that similar syntactic structure and its impact on their sentence comprehension. Branigan, Pickering, and McLean (2005) study the impact of past language processing on language production. The authors investigate whether syntactic repetition is another such feature that might influence attachment inclinations, that is, verb phrase or high attachment and noun phrase or low attachment. For this purpose, the authors conducted four experiments that investigated the resolution of prepositional phrase ambiguities in phrases in which participants linked the expressions to pictures, that is, the influences of syntactic repetition were explored. The first procedure tested if prepositional-phrase attachment is influenced by past understanding of sentences that are assigned to high attachment or low attachment, employing prime and target utterances using the identical verb. The second experiment was similar to the first experiment, except that verbs were not repeated. The third experiment enquired whether prepositional-phrase attachment is influenced by past production of phrases consisting of prepositional phrase with a high or low attachment. The last experiment explored whether syntactic recurrence influences the time period in ambiguity resolution (Branigan, Pickering & McLean, 2005). The study presented four procedures that explored whether comprehension is affected by syntactic repetition. In all four experiments, participants were presented with internationally ambiguous phrases comprising of a prepositional phrase that could be read as altering the verb (high-attached) or altering the direct object (low-attached) (Branigan, Pickering & McLean, 2005). For the experiments, 24 set of items were created, each of which contained a prime sentence along with a single picture that connected with either the high attachment or low attachment explanation of the phrase and another picture that corresponded to neither explanation, and a target sentence that corresponded with pictures related to each explanation of the phrase. In the high-attachment situation, the prime phrase was linked with two pictures, related to the high-attached explanation and an option entailing the same action but a different object. In the low-attachment situation, the pictures related to the low attached explanation and an option entailing the same action but a different object. The target phrase was linked with the two pictures, related to the high- and low-attached explanations of the target sentences (Branigan, Pickering & McLean, 2005). Traxler (2008) investigated situations in which individuals read pairs of sentences having similar syntactic structure. In the two eye-tracking experiments conducted for the study, participants were asked to read expressions comprising of ‘modifier–goal’ ambiguities. Half of the target expressions were preceded by expressions with similar structure, and half were preceded by expressions with a different structure. In the first experiment, the prime - target pairs had the same main verb, while the main verbs were different in prime – target pair in the second experiment. The research paper makes use of eye tracking technology that monitored participants’ eye movements in both the experiments (Traxler, 2008). For the experiment, 40 prime - target pairs items were presented by the author to the participants. All through, the experiment, the target expressions were ambiguous ‘modifier-goal’ expressions. Fifty percent of the primes had identical structure as the target, while the other fifty percent had only an argument prepositional phrase. As the subjects read the modifier-goal primes, the eye-movement evidence founded the baseline conditions. The baseline condition indicates the influences the sentence when it is preceded by different material. As the subjects read modifier-goal targets after modifier-goal prime, the eye movements of the subjects founded the same structure condition. This condition evaluates the advantage of having a target sentence with the same main verb and syntactic structure as the prime. As the subjects read modifier-goal targets after modifier-goal prime, the eye movements of the subjects founded the different structure condition. Comparing processing in the same structure and different-structure conditions offered another evaluation of priming (Traxler, 2008). Interpretations of Experiments In Branigan, Pickering, and McLean’s (2005) first experiment, subjects were more inclined to take on an explanation when they had just read a prime sentence that was disambiguated to a similar explanation as compared to when it was disambiguated to the other explanation. However, the second experiment did not discover a significant impact when the verb was not repeated from prime to target. In the third experiment, participants were more inclined to take on an explanation when they had just formed a prime sentence with similar explanation as compared to when they had just formed a prime sentence with the other explanation. In the last experiment, the participants were quicker to take on an explanation when they had just read a prime sentence that was disambiguated to similar explanation as compared to when they had just read a prime sentence that was disambiguated to the other explanation (Branigan, Pickering & McLean, 2005). The results of the study illustrated that syntactic repetition influences can also take place in matching the picture. Both, after matching the picture and after forming a sentence with a certain structure, following comprehension of a sentence similar structure was assisted. Therefore, ambiguity resolution is influenced by syntactic replication after prior interpretation and formation of a certain structure. The results also demonstrated that assistance for repeated interpretation of sentences with similar arrangement takes place between expressions that share no open-class lexical overlap, except for the reiteration of the verb (Branigan, Pickering & McLean, 2005). Traxler’s (2008) initial procedure suggested that re-evaluation started during understanding of the initial prepositional phrase. The total time data demonstrated reduced processing complexity in the same-structure situation. Results from the second experiment indicated that initial complexity in the same-structure situation was seen at the adjunct prepositional phrase, with savings corresponding to the different-structure situation coming into view at the disambiguating prepositional and in the post-disambiguating area. The pattern of processing complexity across situations in the disambiguating area was very similar across the two experiments, as indicated by the total time. Smaller total times in the same-structure situation as compared to the different-structure situation show that the modifier-goal prime expressions were helpful and that priming did not rely on verb repetition (Traxler, 2008). Critiques of Experiments Both the research papers investigate whether prior language processing and similarity in syntactic structure influences sentence comprehension in people. Traxler’s (2008) article basically deals with gauging priming in sentence comprehension through participants’ eye movements. On the other hand, Branigan, Pickering, and McLean’s (2005) research paper determined the high and low attachment to prime and target expressions through visual aids. Furthermore, both the articles lay emphasis on the significance of using verbs in order to understand the impact of similar syntactic structure on sentence comprehension in people. This was done in a manner in which Branigan, Pickering, and McLean’s (2005) indicated that understanding language in a way previously interpreted, is not strong and hard to distinguish lacking verb reiteration. Whereas, Traxler (2008) suggested that priming effects seen in the experiment might have been greater if overlapping nouns rather than overlapping verbs had been utilized. Even though, Branigan, Pickering, and McLean (2005) suggested that verb-specific syntactic replication influences take place in comprehension, but no significant impact was discovered when the verb was not repeated. In this respect, the results differed with findings of syntactic repetition effects in production, in which influences took place without verb repetition (Pickering & Branigan, 1998). Similarly, Traxler’s paper (2008) could not generalize its findings because it is crucial to determine whether lexically independent priming can be viewed for other sentence types involving adjuncts. In addition, Traxler’s (2008) experiments could not reveal that the pattern of priming was the same across experiments, however, so they do not remove the chance of lexical intervention of priming for the kinds of expressions tested in the experiment. Proposal for New Experiment Even though, both the research papers achieve their objectives to an extent but proposing a new experiment in the area of sentence comprehension in similar syntactic structure can open new doors for researchers. The experiment that is proposed will explore the impact of similar syntactic structure on sentence comprehension in English-French bilinguals. The experiment will explore sharing of syntactic information among two language processing systems in bilingualism. In this experiment, the prime and the target will be in different languages. The priming effect will be studied in both directions, that is, French to English and French to English. Hypothesis The hypothesis for the new proposed experiment would be: “There is a significant impact of similar syntactic structure on sentence completion in French-English bilinguals.” Method For the experiment, 15 French-English bilinguals of average English proficiency and French as their native language would be selected. The subjects will have a similar language background who acquired English at school as a foreign language at a similar age. The participants will be paid for their participation in the experiment. Stimuli/Design Half of the sentences will be in English and the other half would be their translation corresponding in French. The test will consist of one prime expression, one non-prime and one target expression. The stimuli will be created in a manner that all the experimental conditions occurred equally. The experimental design included the following characteristics; the language combinations (French-English and English-French) and the verb issue (verb repetition between prime and target, or no repetition). The stimuli will comprise of 7 words sentences. A stimulus list for the 15 participants along with filler sentences in each will be created. All through the stimulus lists, the verb will be repeated in fifty percent of the cases. The occurrence of filler expressions in both the language combination will be equal as well. The experiments will be conducted using Microsoft Power Point Presentation software. Subjects will be seated in front of a personal computer on which expressions will appear word by word at a set speed, in black “Times New Roman” font of size 22 on a white background. After reading each word, participants will press a button thus offering a gauge of reading time. Each subject will only view one of the stimulus lists. The testing expressions will appear in triplets. This will be done to decrease the number of sentences that will be used in the procedure. The triplets of expressions will always be followed by three filler expressions. The order of the testing triplets will be randomized. Examples of Stimuli to be used Condition Prime Non-Prime Target English to French (verb shared) The room was decorated by the designer. The designer decorated the room. Le jeu a ete decore par les filles. English to French (verb not shared) The play was seen by the girls. The girls saw the play. La salle a ete decore par le designer. French to English (verb shared) Le jeu a ete vu par les filles La. Les filles ont vu la piece. The room was seen by the designer. French to English (verb nor shared) La salle a ete decore par le designer. Le dessinateur decore la salle. The play was seen by the girls. Interpretation of Possible Results The outcome of the above-mentioned proposed experiment might show a significant impact of similar syntactic structure on sentence comprehension in bilinguals in French-English. There might a difference in time taken by the participants to read the prime, non-prime and target expressions in English to French and French to English. Thus, if a significant difference is seen in the time, then the hypothesis would be supported. In conclusion, the influence of previous language processing can occur in sentence comprehension in bilinguals in French-English. Conclusion The aim of the present report was to not only determine sentence comprehension in similar syntactic structure through critically analyzing two articles, but also propose a new experiment in the same area. After a thorough analysis of the two papers, it can be concluded that there is a significant influence of similar syntactic structure on sentence comprehension in people. Both the researches make a significant contribution in their field of research, but much work is still required to fully understand the nature of sentence comprehension in relation to similarity in syntactic structure. Similarly, the proposition of the new experiment will help researchers understand sentence comprehension in similar syntactic structure in the field of cross-linguistics. In conclusion, both the analysis of the papers and proposal for a new experiment enhances one’s understanding in sentence comprehension in psycholinguistics. Works Cited Branigan, Holly P., Pickering, Martin J., and McLean, Janet F. “Priming prepositional-phrase attachment during comprehension.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. 2005. Vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 468-481. 16 February 2011 Pickering, M. J., Branigan, H. P. “The representation of verbs: evidence from syntactic priming in language production.” Journal of Memory and Language. 1998. Vol. 39, pp. 633–651. Traxler, Matthew J. “Lexically independent priming in online sentence comprehension.” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 2008. Vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 149-155. 16 February 2011 Read More