NATIVE SPEAKERS’ VERSUS L2 LEARNERS’ SENSITIVITY TO PARALLELISM IN VP-ELLIPSIS

Abstract

This article examines sensitivity to structural parallelism in verb phrase ellipsis constructions in English native speakers as well as in three groups of advanced second language (L2) learners. The results of a set of experiments, based on those of Tanenhaus and Carlson (1990), reveal subtle but reliable differences among the various learner groups. These differences are interpreted as showing that some L2 learners can acquire sensitivity to parallelism in the absence of surface transfer. Furthermore, the results cast doubt on two conventional theoretical claims: that the parallelism effect has a syntactic basis and that it is uniquely linked to instances of surface anaphora (Hankamer & Sag, 1976).