二言語併用者の文理解における関係節付与の選好性

概要

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The present study investigated the way bilinguals (balanced speakers of both Japanese and English) resolve relative clause (RC) attachment ambiguities in sentences which contain a RC followed by a complex noun phrase (NP) with two potential attachment sites (NP1+of+NP2+RC). It is a commonly accepted view that native speakers of English have a tendency to prefer attaching relative clauses to NP2, whereas speakers of other languages prefer to attach these clauses to NP1. Ten bilinguals of both Japanese and English and thirty Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) participated in questionnaire studies. The results indicated that the bilinguals generally preferred to attach the RC to NP2 in English target structures, exhibiting little difference of preferences between NP1 and NP2 in Japanese target structures. On the other hand, Japanese EFL learners consistently showed preferences for NPl both in Japanese and English target structures. The study also discusses that the level of language dominance plays a crucial role in determining the set of strategies employed by the bilinguals. It is concluded that bilinguals process sentences in both of their languages by following strategies similar to those of monolinguals of their dominant language.
2010-11-30