High is good enough: Gender agreement and relative clause attachment in L2 auditory processing

Abstract

This study contributes to the limited research on gender agreement processing of complex syntactic structures in the auditory modality. By examining learners at varying stages of second language (L2) development, we aim to identify the linguistic factors that facilitate this process. First language English – second language Spanish learners listened to temporarily ambiguous Spanish sentences containing relative clauses. In each case, the ambiguity could be resolved through gender agreement between an adjective and one of two competing nouns with gender mismatches. We assessed participant accuracy through aural comprehension questions. Our findings indicate that determiners and proficiency impact learners’ accuracy in the task. Specifically, they highlight the role of determiners in gender agreement processing in the absence of duplications as well as the impact of proficiency on the processing of noun endings with marked feminine gender. Additionally, we identify a pattern of increased accuracy in gender agreement processing in high attachment cases. We argue that this pattern challenges first language (L1) transfer assumptions and provides evidence of a ‘good enough’ processing strategy. This strategy relies on syntactic hierarchy and emerges as a response to complex task demands.