Exploring nonlocal subject–verb agreement in L2 English: The role of proficiency and language experience.

This study explores the effects of second language (L2) proficiency and the extent of exposure to the L2 on how L2 learners process nonlocal subject–verb agreement in English. A group of 61 adult Tagalog–English bilinguals, who began learning English before the age of 11, and a control group of 23 n...

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Publicado en:Language Acquisition Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 19 - 39
Autores principales: Santiago, Arjelyn, Kim, Hyunwoo
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jan-Mar2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan-Mar2026
      vid: 33
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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        190509005
        10.1080/10489223.2024.2430953
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        atl: Exploring nonlocal subject–verb agreement in L2 English: The role of proficiency and language experience.
      aug:
        au:
          Santiago, Arjelyn
          Kim, Hyunwoo
        affil: Yonsei University
      su:
        Bilingualism
        Linguistics
        Foreign language education
        English as a foreign language
        Agreement (Grammar)
        Expertise
      sug:
        subj:
          Bilingualism
          Linguistics
          Foreign language education
          Language Schools
          English as a foreign language
          Agreement (Grammar)
          Expertise
      ab: This study explores the effects of second language (L2) proficiency and the extent of exposure to the L2 on how L2 learners process nonlocal subject–verb agreement in English. A group of 61 adult Tagalog–English bilinguals, who began learning English before the age of 11, and a control group of 23 native speakers of English completed acceptability judgment and self-paced reading tasks. In the acceptability judgment task, both groups exhibited sensitivity to agreement violations, indicating their knowledge of subject–verb agreement in English. In the self-paced reading task, the L2 group exhibited delayed sensitivity to agreement violations compared to native speakers. Notably, the processing patterns of L2 learners were significantly influenced by their L2 proficiency in English. In contrast, the effect of language exposure was not significant. These results indicate that the ability of L2 speakers to compute nonlocal agreement in English is predominantly shaped by their proficiency. These findings suggest that while both L1 and L2 processing rely on fundamentally similar underlying mechanisms, L2 parsing appears to be more closely tied to language proficiency.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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