Syntactic Ability And Reading Ability Of Second Language Learners, As Well As In The Reading Process, Constraints,

The thesis adopts an empirical method, with the second language learners being the investigated subjects and with the five kinds of syntactic ambiguity being the research material, which explores the relationship between the syntactic ability and the reading ability of the second language learners, the role of syntactic drills and the constraints on second language learners' processing of sentences in reading.The study here consists of two parts: the first one explores the relationship between the syntactic ability and the reading ability of the second language learners and the role of syntactic drills. Experiment 1 explores the second language learners' syntactic ability, and Experiment 2 explores the second language learners' reading ability. The results from the two experiments show that the second language learners' syntactic ability and reading ability are related. Experiment 3 explores the role of syntactic drills. The results show that syntactic drills can help to strengthen the learners' reading ability.The second part explores the constraints on second language learners' processing of sentences in reading. Here we discuss the two accounts, that is, "the minimal attachment" and "the referential theory". Experiment 4 consists of two parts: the first part shows that in a null context the minimal principle constraints the second language learners' parsing of ambiguous sentences, the second part shows that although contextual cues appear more robust than prosodic cues, both can guide the second language learners toward the intended interpretation of ambiguous sentences.The study in the thesis proves the influence exerted by syntactic knowledge on the second language learners' reading ability and the role of syntactic drills. It also proves "the minimal attachment" and "the referential theory" are the two constraints on second language learners' processing of sentences in reading.