| Sentence processing is the basic format and core of language comprehension. Researchers generally consider that sentence processing mainly involves syntactic and semantic processing. The former one mainly focuses on the identification, monitoring, and construction. The later one concludes the semantic access, identification, match, and the processing of the design of subject assign, which is based on the structure of syntactic. It has been a long time that there are some theories about the sentence processing. They are three theory models: the principle-based model, the constraint-based model and the concurrent model. And they are disputing for the relationship between syntactic and semantic processing. Now researchers have adopted methods of neural cognitive Psycholinguistic, among which event-related brain potentials (ERP) is the core of those. Under the influence of ERP, now researchers have formed syntactic-centered model and semantic-centered model, which conflict. The former model thinks the syntactic processing is automatic, original, and without the influence of semantic processing. The later one thinks the language processor can use the semantic information to influence the analyzing of the syntactic structure of sentence, i.e., the processing of the semantic will influence the processing of the syntactic.The present results about the processing of the sentence come from the studies run with English and other Indo-European language as subjects' native language. There are few studies which deal with the processing of the second language and Chinese. And most studies are about simple sentence, which is lacking the study of complex sentences and different syntactic structure. Researchers consider that syntactic structure and the influence conditions of English are the main factors, which can impact the sentence processing. So researchers tried to use the event-related brain potentials (ERP) to study English sentence processing of Chinese ESL learners, and made a contrast between the processing of syntactic and semantic of English and Chinese. The structure includes three types: simple sentence, the sentence which is introduced by "it", and the sentence which is introduced by "if, which the later two are complex sentences. Subjects contains tow groups, one is the ESL who passed CET-4,the other passed TEM-8 .The purpose of this researchers is to probe the relationship of syntactic and semantic relationships by the using of ERP. The results show that:(1) Chinese ESL learners are semantic-driven in the processing of sentences. The semantic processing is applied prior to the syntactic processing. The semantic processing is independent and has the influence on syntactic processing; this character is shown by the OET-4 group and TEM-8 group. The semantic processing and the syntactic processes have interaction in the processing of the empirical of simple sentences by the TEM-8 group. The Semantic process can influence the processing of syntactic. The findings supported the semantic centered theory partly.(2) The sentence structure can justify the syntactic processing. The more complicated of syntactic structure, the subjects need more cognitive load to syntactic processing by the CET-4 group. For the subjects of TEM-8 group ,there is no difference between these three kinds of sentences.(3) There is no difference between the CET-4 group and TEM-8 group in the processing of the experiment of the simple sentences and the syntactic processing of "it" sentences . But the CET-4 group need more cognitive load on "if sentences than the TEM-8 group.(4) The semantic representation of Chinese (L1) and English (L2) are same by Chinese university students. The subjects process the semantic of the Chinese sentence more quickly than English sentences.
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