Second Language Learners’ Garden-path Sentence Comprehension From Multiple Perspectives

To sentence comprehension, traditional theories hold that sentence processing is to makecomputations, that meaning is derived from compositionality, and that language inputrepresentations are full, elaborate, and exact. But, the recent good-enough (GE) approachmaintains that language processing is sometimes local, that sentence processing is GE, andthat semantic representations are often not global. By theory integration, in the process ofcomprehending garden-path (GP) sentences, the GE approach is likely to be a particular andpowerful stage of traditional theories due to strong subjective expectations resulting from thecomplexity and deviation of GP sentences, processing resource restrictions, biased schemata,heuristics, similar experience, mind-set, time pressure, etc. Throughout literature, it is foundthat many factors affect sentence understanding. Field cognitive styles can reflect GP sentencecomprehension in that sentence comprehension is affected by both cognitive and linguisticaspects in the processing resource restrictions. Although there are different ideas of thefunctions of field independent (FI), field dependent and middle cognitive styles to foreignlanguages, FI individuals are superior to restructuring abilities and rely on internal reference.The ability of “disembedding” involved in Cognitive Style Figures Test (CSFT) can beassociated with that “separation” or “disambiguation” ability concerned with GP sentences forboth involve restructuring abilities in the embedded or ambiguous fields. Besides, sincesentence comprehension is influenced by language proficiency, English grammaringreinforcement (EGR) can ameliorate GP sentence comprehension. Because second language(L2) input is limited, mother tongue is interfering, learners are not familiar with GP sentencesand lack metalinguistic awareness and relevant comprehension skills, as well as syntacticstructures are fragile and decline quickly, and so forth, by explicitly cultivating metalinguisticawareness and reinforcing the analytical knowledge and skills of syntactic structures, L2learners’ English GP sentence comprehension can be bettered. Given a lack of research in thethree respects covered above, they are worth investigating:(1) Are field cognitive styles correlated with GP sentence comprehension (from theaccuracy dimension)? (2) Is EGR effective to GP sentence comprehension?(3) In the process of comprehending GP sentences, is the GE approach a particular andpowerful stage of traditional theories?By quantitative tests and corresponding analyses, it is found that:(1) Field cognitive styles are positively, significantly, but weakly correlated with GPsentence comprehension.(2) EGR is significantly effective to GP sentence comprehension.(3) The GE approach can be regarded as a particular and powerful stage of traditionaltheories in the process of comprehending GP sentences.Specifically, the visual perceptual restructuring ability involved in CSFT is positively,significantly, and weakly correlated with the verbal restructuring ability concerned with GPsentences. The stronger field independence or autonomy is, the better the perceptualrestructuring ability and the verbal restructuring ability are, and vice versa. Through EGR,that learners are able to perform significantly better in the kindred task may demonstrate thatthis treatment is feasible and effective. Meanwhile, the reason why the GE approach can betreated as a particular and powerful stage of traditional theories is that under this kind ofexplicit treatment or guidance learners can finally and completely decode English GPsentences by overcoming their strong subjective expectations, or at least there is a trend thatthe complete decoding of GP sentences is over the powerful partial decoding.