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Overexplicit Referent Tracking in L2 English: Strategy, Avoidance, or Myth?
Author(s) -
Ryan Jonathon
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/lang.12139
Subject(s) - referent , psychology , linguistics , pronoun , clarity , anaphora (linguistics) , noun , cognitive psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , resolution (logic)
The tendency of intermediate and advanced second language speakers to underuse pronouns and zero anaphora has been characterized as a developmental stage of overexplicitness, yet little consideration has been given to whether learners create sufficient contexts for their use. This study analyzed references across eight degrees of accessibility, revealing that this did not account for infrequent pronoun use by Chinese learners of English. Further analysis revealed that participants were seldom overexplicit when referring to highly accessible individuals, particularly those that represented continued topics, but were significantly more likely than native speakers to use lexical noun phrases elsewhere, particularly for main characters. This is discussed in relation to a possible role of overexplicitness as a clarity‐based communication strategy.