Effects of print exposure on formulaic language and predictive processing of English

Thesis

Compared to speech, writing offers more complex vocabulary and grammar. Consequently, reading provides essential exposure to "book language" which influences language processing. An Author Recognition Test (ART) is often used to measure first language (L1) print exposure, but may not be as reliable or valid in second language (L2) populations. This thesis explores an alternative method, the Author Fluency Task (AFT), where respondents name as many authors as possible in three minutes. Initial results from a pilot study comparing the two print exposure measures in a sample of L1 speakers showed AFT correlated best with reading habits surveys. Participants were also tested using a novel lexical decision task which used low-prevalence keywords of literary fiction from a large corpus of books. Here, a combined measure of ART and AFT improved models of accuracy scores compared to either measure alone, suggesting the two measures assess print exposure through different facets of memory. Subsequent chapters investigated the use of AFT for measuring L2 English print exposure, focusing on formulaic language. AFT outperformed ART in L1 French / L2 English speakers in models predicting accuracy scores for both discourse connectives and collocations. In comparison, ART was a better predictor for L1 English speakers. An attempted replication in an L1 Korean / L2 English sample showed AFT and ART were virtually identically correlated with both vocabulary scores. In a final study using a novel visual world paradigm, eye-tracking data revealed that print exposure correlated with predictive processing of L2 idioms during speech comprehension. Overall, AFT is a more effective measure of print exposure in certain L2 populations and is equivalent to ART in others. This research emphasises the importance of reading for pleasure for second language acquisition, and provides support for usage-based frameworks.

Authors: McCarron, SP

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-dxmvgezpd
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: fluency; formulaic language; idioms; second language acquisition; collocations; psychometrics; psychology; book language; memory; print exposure; Author Recognition Test; implicit learning; literacy; reading; Author Fluency Task; psycholinguistics; connectives
• Subjects: Fluency (Language learning); Reading; Psychology; Learning; Informal language learning; Second language acquisition; Memory; Psycholinguistics