A Multi-factor Analysis Of EFL Learners’ Ability Of Processing Relative Clauses

The processing of relative clauses, as one of the difficult points in second language acquisition, has attracted considerable attention of language researchers. Most previous studies explored the effects of one or two factors on the processing of relative clauses, with interaction effects largely ignored, whereas little research was conducted on how various factors affected the processing of relative clauses. Thus, this study aims to explore the effects of the multi-factors (i.e., language proficiency, relative clause type and antecedent animacy) on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses. It addresses the following research questions:1. Are there any main effects of the multi-factors on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses? How large is their explanatory power?1.1Is there any main effect of language proficiency on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses? How large is its explanatory power?1.2Is there any main effect of relative clause type on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses? How large is its explanatory power?1.3Is there any main effect of antecedent animacy on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses? How large is its explanatory power?2. Are there any interaction effects among the multi-factors on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses?2.1Is there any interaction effect among language proficiency, relative clause type and antecedent animacy on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses?2.2Is there any interaction effect between language proficiency and relative clause type on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses?2.3Is there any interaction effect between relative clause type and antecedent animacy on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses?2.4Is there any interaction effect between language proficiency and antecedent animacy on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses? The present study was a2(language proficiency) X2(relative clause type) X2(antecedent animacy) factorial design. Language proficiency, measured by the subjects’ scores of an English proficiency test, was divided into high-and low-proficiency levels. The test, adapted from previous College English Test-Band Four (CET-4) papers, consisted of five parts, namely, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, vocabulary and structure, cloze, and writing. Relative clause type fell into two categories, i.e., subject relative clause and object relative clause. Antecedent animacy also fell into two categories, i.e., animate antecedent and inanimate antecedent. The subjects’ processing ability of relative clauses was measured by their scores of the relative clause test, which was made up of72items of grammaticality judgment and48items of sentence combination. Each item was a combination of a category of relative clause type with that of antecedent animacy.The146first-year non-English majors were chosen from five intact classes at Nanjing University of Technology as subjects. Prior to the experiments, ten first-year non-English majors were randomly chosen from another class to participate in the pilot study. The final tests were modified based on the findings of the pilot study. In the first week of May,2011, all the146subjects took part in the English proficiency test during their regular English classes. Two days later, the same subjects participated in the relative clause test. The valid data from136subjects were used for further analysis.In this study, language proficiency was a between-subjects variable, and relative clause type and antecedent animacy were within-subjects variables. So a mixed ANOVA was conducted. The major findings are displayed as follows:1. Both language proficiency and relative clause type have main effects on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses, but antecedent animacy does not. Specifically speaking, the explanatory power of the former two variables is3.7%and59.8%respectively. Thus, among the three factors, relative clause type has the largest significant effect on EFL learners’ processing of relative clauses, followed by language proficiency, with antecedent animacy having no effect. As language proficiency improves, so does the processing ability of relative clauses to some extent. For relative clause type, object relative clauses are far more difficult than subject relative ones for EFL learners to process.2. There is no interaction effect among language proficiency, relative clause type and antecedent animacy on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses, nor is there between language proficiency and antecedent animacy.3. Language proficiency and relative clause type exert a significant interaction effect on EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses, and the explanatory power is3.5%. In processing object relative clauses, the high-proficiency group is significantly better than the low-proficiency group; however, in processing subject relative clauses, there is no significant difference between the two groups.4. There is a significant interaction between relative clause type and antecedent animacy for EFL learners’processing ability of relative clauses, and the explanatory power is14.7%. For subject relative clauses, those with animate antecedents are easier for learners to process than those with inanimate antecedents. For object relative clauses, those with inanimate antecedents are easier for learners to process than those with animate antecedents.To sum up, EFL learners’ processing ability of relative clauses was significantly influenced by language proficiency and relative clause type, and antecedent animacy posed different degrees of processing difficulty in processing different types of relative clauses. These results lend support to Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy Hypothesis and Animacy Preference Constraints. They also have important pedagogical implications. On one hand, during the instruction of relative clauses, English teachers are expected to highlight object relative clauses, which pose great difficulty for EFL learners to acquire. On the other hand, animacy should be paid great attention to when learners learn to process the same kind of relative clauses.