engleski

Establishing Reference in Ambiguous Sentences in English as L2

This thesis deals with the way speakers process ambiguous elements in language, with the aim of determining the means by which speakers assign one or another possible interpretation to an ambiguous linguistic unit, i.e. how they choose one or another possible meaning of an ambiguous structure. The ambiguity in this thesis is dealt with from the theoretical perspective of language comprehension, and based on written, rather than spoken language material. Based on research which involved learners of English as a second language, with a group of English native speakers as a control group, this thesis focuses on referential ambiguity, and tries to determine the criteria people use in order to identify a referent of an ambiguous pronoun.

referential ambiguity; pronouns; English; second language

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