The role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses by Iranian EFL learners: an emergentist approach
Abstract Following an emergentist approach, the authors examined the comprehension of four different types of restrictive relative clauses (direct object/oblique vs. subject/indirect object) with animate/inanimate referents by Iranian EFL learners. To this end, an Oxford placement test and two sets...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2018-06-01
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| Series: | Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40862-018-0051-5 |
| _version_ | 1819115218271207424 |
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| author | Mehrdad Rezaeian Firooz Sadighi Mortaza Yamini Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri |
| author_facet | Mehrdad Rezaeian Firooz Sadighi Mortaza Yamini Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri |
| author_sort | Mehrdad Rezaeian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Following an emergentist approach, the authors examined the comprehension of four different types of restrictive relative clauses (direct object/oblique vs. subject/indirect object) with animate/inanimate referents by Iranian EFL learners. To this end, an Oxford placement test and two sets of comprehension tests within a week’s interval were administered. Of the two comprehension tests, one was used to examine the comprehension of direct object/oblique RC’s with inanimate NP referents, and the other one investigated the understanding of subject/indirect object RC’s with animate referents. The results of the first comprehension test showed that there was no significant difference in the comprehension of direct/oblique RC’s with inanimate referents. But the result of the second comprehension test showed their better performance in the subject RC’s than indirect object RC’s with animate referents. The findings of the experiments showed that animacy influenced the processing difficulty of relative clauses which can be considered as a significant reasoning for these preferences or equalities. Current significant theories of relative clause processing can account for these results when additional assumptions are introduced showing that the possibility of semantically driven cues can be considered as a serious alternative. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:57:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bb152b1307074c489722afa46a6e8203 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2363-5169 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:57:42Z |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-bb152b1307074c489722afa46a6e82032022-12-21T18:38:20ZengSpringerOpenAsian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education2363-51692018-06-013111910.1186/s40862-018-0051-5The role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses by Iranian EFL learners: an emergentist approachMehrdad Rezaeian0Firooz Sadighi1Mortaza Yamini2Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri3Department of Foreign Languages, College of Humanities, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad UniversityDepartment of Foreign Languages, College of Humanities, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad UniversityZand Institute of Higher EducationDepartment of Foreign Languages, College of Humanities, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad UniversityAbstract Following an emergentist approach, the authors examined the comprehension of four different types of restrictive relative clauses (direct object/oblique vs. subject/indirect object) with animate/inanimate referents by Iranian EFL learners. To this end, an Oxford placement test and two sets of comprehension tests within a week’s interval were administered. Of the two comprehension tests, one was used to examine the comprehension of direct object/oblique RC’s with inanimate NP referents, and the other one investigated the understanding of subject/indirect object RC’s with animate referents. The results of the first comprehension test showed that there was no significant difference in the comprehension of direct/oblique RC’s with inanimate referents. But the result of the second comprehension test showed their better performance in the subject RC’s than indirect object RC’s with animate referents. The findings of the experiments showed that animacy influenced the processing difficulty of relative clauses which can be considered as a significant reasoning for these preferences or equalities. Current significant theories of relative clause processing can account for these results when additional assumptions are introduced showing that the possibility of semantically driven cues can be considered as a serious alternative.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40862-018-0051-5Subject RCObject RCIndirect object RCOblique RCEmergentism |
| spellingShingle | Mehrdad Rezaeian Firooz Sadighi Mortaza Yamini Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri The role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses by Iranian EFL learners: an emergentist approach Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education Subject RC Object RC Indirect object RC Oblique RC Emergentism |
| title | The role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses by Iranian EFL learners: an emergentist approach |
| title_full | The role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses by Iranian EFL learners: an emergentist approach |
| title_fullStr | The role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses by Iranian EFL learners: an emergentist approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses by Iranian EFL learners: an emergentist approach |
| title_short | The role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of English restrictive relative clauses by Iranian EFL learners: an emergentist approach |
| title_sort | role of animacy and language proficiency in the comprehension of english restrictive relative clauses by iranian efl learners an emergentist approach |
| topic | Subject RC Object RC Indirect object RC Oblique RC Emergentism |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40862-018-0051-5 |
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