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Scalar inferences represent the condition when a speaker uses a weaker expression such as  some  in a pragmatic scale like <some, all>, and s/he has the intention to reject the stronger use of the other word like  all  in the utterance. Considerable disagreement has arisen concerning how interlocutors derive the inferences. The study presented here tries to address this issue by examining online scalar inferences among Mandarin learners of English. To date, Default Inference and Relevance Theory have made different predictions regarding how people process scalar inferences. Findings from recently emerging first language studies did not fully resolved the debate but led to even more heated debates. The current three online psycholinguistic experiments reported here tried to address the processing of scalar inferences from second language perspective. Results showed that Mandarin learners of English showed faster reaction times and a higher acceptance rate when interpreting  some  as  some but not all  and this was true even when subjects were under time pressure, which was manifested in Experiment 2. Overall, the results of the experiments supported Default Theory. In addition, Experiment 3 also found that working memory capacity plays a critical role during scalar inference processing. High span readers were faster in accepting the  some but not all  interpretation than low span readers. However, compared with low span readers, high span readers were more likely to accept the  some and possibly all  condition, possibly due to their working memory capacity to generate scenarios to fit the interpretation.

Processing of Scalar Inferences by Mandarin Learners of English: An Online Measure