Put in last position something previously unmentioned: Word order effects on referential expectancy and reference comprehension

@article{citeulike:2286583, abstract = {Research has shown that the comprehension of definite referring expressions (e.g., <i>the triangle</i>) tends to be faster for <b>given</b> (previously mentioned) referents, compared with new referents. This has been attributed to the presence of given information in the consciousness of discourse participants (e.g., Chafe, 1994) suggesting that given is always more accessible. By contrast, we find a bias toward new referents during the on-line comprehension of the direct object in heavy-NP-shifted word orders, e.g., <i>Put on the star the</i>. \&hellip; This order tends to be used for new direct objects; canonical unshifted orders are more common with given direct objects. Thus, word order provides probabilistic information about the givenness or newness of the direct object. Results from eyetracking and gating experiments show that the traditional given bias only occurs with unshifted orders; with heavy-NP-shifted orders, comprehenders expect the object to be new, and comprehension for new referents is facilitated.}, author = {Arnold, Jennifer E. and Lao, Shin-Yi C. }, citeulike-article-id = {2286583}, doi = {10.1080/01690960701536805}, journal = {Language and Cognitive Processes}, keywords = {eye-movements, visual-world-paradigm}, number = {2}, pages = {1--14}, posted-at = {2008-01-25 01:45:54}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Psychology Press}, title = {Put in last position something previously unmentioned: Word order effects on referential expectancy and reference comprehension}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960701536805}, volume = {23}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2286583 TI - Put in last position something previously unmentioned: Word order effects on referential expectancy and reference comprehension JF - Language and Cognitive Processes VL - 23 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Psychology Press N2 - Research has shown that the comprehension of definite referring expressions (e.g., <i>the triangle</i>) tends to be faster for <b>given</b> (previously mentioned) referents, compared with new referents. This has been attributed to the presence of given information in the consciousness of discourse participants (e.g., Chafe, 1994) suggesting that given is always more accessible. By contrast, we find a bias toward new referents during the on-line comprehension of the direct object in heavy-NP-shifted word orders, e.g., <i>Put on the star the</i>. &hellip; This order tends to be used for new direct objects; canonical unshifted orders are more common with given direct objects. Thus, word order provides probabilistic information about the givenness or newness of the direct object. Results from eyetracking and gating experiments show that the traditional given bias only occurs with unshifted orders; with heavy-NP-shifted orders, comprehenders expect the object to be new, and comprehension for new referents is facilitated. KW - eye-movements KW - visual-world-paradigm AU - Arnold, Jennifer AU - Lao, Shin-Yi PY - 2008/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960701536805 ER -