Study III investigates L2 learners’ interpretation on DCL-first and DCL-second
ORCs and ambiguity resolution of DCL phrases.
3.3.1 Subjects
The subjects recruited in Study III were the same as those who had participated in
Studies I and II. They took part in this study after finishing the previous studies.
3.3.2 Methods and Materials
In this study, only an interpretation (IT) task was conducted to investigate whether
context can take effect on L2 learners’ interpretation of ORCs with different DCL
positions. The task consisted of three parts with three types of context: context-free (i.e.
sentence in isolation), biasing and supporting. Each part had eight items but these items
were randomized. A summary of the test items in the two parts is illustrated in Table
3-9.
Table 3-9 A Summary of the Test Items for the IT Task of Study III
Major Types Number Questions
Part I Part II Part III
DCL-first 12 1,2,3,5 1,2,3,4 2,3,4,6
DCL-second 12 4,6,7,8 5,6,7,8 1,5,7,8
Total 24
In this task, two questions were included: one question for the interpretation of
RCs and the other for the ambiguity resolution in RCs. However, Question 1 was
included in every type but Question 2 was asked only in the case of DCL-first structures.
The subjects were asked to read a sentence and then choose an answer from three
options provided for each question based on their interpretation of the sentence.
Part I contained isolated ORCs without context. Table 3-10 is an example of a test
item in Part I.
Table 3-10 An Example of a Test Item of Part I4 in Study III
Zhe wei xiaopengyou xihuan de laoshi piqi hen hao.
‘The teacher that the child likes has good temper.’
1. Qingwen shi shui piqi hao?
‘Who has good tempter?’
( ) A. Laoshi ( ) B. Xiaopengyou ( ) C. Laoshi huo Xiaopengyou ‘teacher’ ‘little.child’ ‘teacher or little.child’
2. Qingwen “zhe wei” zhi de shi shui?
‘Who does “this” modify?’
( ) A. Laoshi ( ) B. Xiaopengyou ( ) C. Laoshi huo Xiaopengyou ‘teacher’ ‘little.child’ ‘teacher or little.child’
As can be seen above, Option A was the answer to Question 1 since laoshi ‘teacher’
was the head noun, and Option C was the preferable answer to Question 2 because the
DCL phrase could modify either the head noun laoshi ‘teacher’ or the adjacent noun
xiaopengyou ‘little child’.
Part II required the subjects to firstly read a biasing context and then read a test
sentence. The context biasing the answer to Question 1 and the association with the
4 The test sentences in the Part I were presented in written form with traditional Chinese characters without pinyin or English translations.
head noun for Question 2. On a basis of their interpretation, they needed to choose an
answer from three options provided. Table 3-11 is an example of a test item in Part II.
Table 3-11 An Example of a Test Item of Part II5 in Study III
You yi ge xiaopengyou zai youzhiyuan feichang ting laoshi de hua.
‘A child listens to teachers’ words at the kindergarten.’
bei qita xiaopengyou qifu le, ye buhui gen tamen chaojia.
‘Even if he is teased by other children, he will not argue with them.’
Zhe wei xiaopengyou xihuan de laoshi piqi hen hao.
‘The teacher that the child likes has good temper.’
1. Qingwen shi shui piqi hao?
In the example, the previous context discussed how xiaopengyou ‘little child’ is
kind and likely to have a good temper. But xiaopengyou is not the head noun of the test
sentence. Thus, the context is biasing and it may result in the wrong interpretation to
answer Question 1 by the subjects. Even though the context shows supportive
information for xiaopengyou ‘little child’, Option B is the answer to Question 1 in that
laoshi ‘teacher’ is still the head noun of the RC. To answer Question 2, the highlight of
5 The test sentences in the Part II were presented in written form with traditional Chinese characters without pinyin or English translations.
xiaopengyou in the context is likely to bias the association with the head noun and the
subjects may choose the adjacent noun xiaopengyou instead of the head noun. Option
B is the preferable answer to Question 2 since the DCL phrase can modify either the
head noun laoshi or the adjacent noun xiaopengyou in a DCL-ORC structure.
In Part III, the subjects were asked to read a supporting context and then a test
sentence. The context supported the answer to Question1 and supported the head noun
association for Question 2. Finally, they needed to choose an answer from the three
options for each question. Table 3-12 illustrates an example of a test item in Part III.
Table 3-12 An Example of a Test Item of Part III6 in Study III
Laoshi yidingyao you naixin, you xiaopengyou fancuo ye bukeyi shengqi.
‘A teacher must have patience. Although children make mistakes, he or she cannot be angry.’
Zhe wei xiaopengyou xihuan de laoshi piqi hen hao.
‘The teacher that the child likes has good temper.’
1. Qingwen shi shui piqi hao?
6 The test sentences in the Part III were presented in written form with traditional Chinese characters without pinyin or English translations.
From the example shown above, the sentences in context show that laoshi ‘teacher’
must be patient and have a good temper. In the test item, laoshi is the head noun of the
test sentence. Therefore, this context can facilitate the subjects’ interpretation for
Question 1. Option C is the answer to Question 1 because it is the head noun of the RC.
Additionally, for Question 2, since the context described more information about the
head noun laoshi, the context tended to support the subjects’ DCL phrase association
with the head noun laoshi instead of xiaopengyou ‘little child’. Option A is the
preferable to Question 2 in that either laoshi or xiaopengyou can be modified by the
DCL phrase.
For the complete version of the items of Part I, Part II and Part III in Study III,
please refer to Appendix E.
3.3.3 Procedure
Part I, Part II and Part III were conducted in order. The answer to Question 1 was
given 1 point and the accuracies of different RC types were calculated and analyzed.
As for Question 2, the frequencies of different options in every item were counted and
analyzed by Chi-square.