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Time course of indirect reply processing in native and non-native Mandarin speakers: An ERP study
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Type
Article
Citation
Zhang, X., Pan, X., Wang, Y., Xu, M., & Privitera, A. J. (2024). Time course of indirect reply processing in native and non-native Mandarin speakers: An ERP study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1366728924000695
Abstract
To communicate successfully, listeners must decode both the literal and intended meanings of a speaker’s message. This ability is especially crucial when processing indirect replies as intended meanings can differ significantly from what was said. How native and non-native speakers differ in this ability is an open question. The present study investigated differences in the time course of indirect reply processing in native and non-native Mandarin speakers. EEG signals were recorded while participants were presented with conversations that differed in their directness. For indirect replies, native speakers exhibited a larger left anterior N400 and posterior late positive component (LPC). Conversely, non-native speakers exhibited a larger left-distributed LPC and delayed LPC. Findings support that non-native speakers exhibit delayed processing of indirect replies, potentially because of cognitive resource limitations. Findings from the present study have implications for a broad range of investigations on human communication and second language processing.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Journal
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
Description
The open access publication is available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/s1366728924000695