Paper The Role of Animacy in the Processing of Relative Clauses in Japanese as a Second Language Sanako Mitsugi (Carnegie Mellon University) Yasuhiro Shirai (University of Pittsburgh)

Program Summary
Using the self-paced reading method, this study examined the role of animacy in the processing of Japanese relative clauses by L1 Korean and English learners. Learners’ performances differed from that of native speakers both in semantic and syntactic dimensions. The results are discussed in the light of the interactive processing.

The Role of Animacy in the Processing of Relative Clauses in Japanese as a Second Language