Resolution of ambiguous anaphora in Portuguese, English, and Spanish
comparison of data obtained from EP and BP speakers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14393/DL49-v16n1a2022-2Keywords:
Ambiguity, Anaphora resolution, Linguistic strategiesAbstract
This paper follows a pilot study and compares data obtained from Portuguese and Brazilian native speakers in the task of resolving ambiguous anaphora in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. Their responses were also compared to those from native speakers of the mentioned foreign languages. The analysis was based on an online survey answered by 52 college students in Brazil and Portugal. The instrument was used to analyse intrasentential anaphora resolution in the three languages, measuring as variables clauses order, anaphor salience, and verb choice. In Portuguese and Spanish, students seemed to follow the Position of Antecedent Strategy (CARMINATI, 2002) in sentences considered semantically “neutral”, but not in the “biased” ones. In English, native speakers tended to interpret the pronoun in subject position of subordinate clause as corresponding to the subject of the main clause. English learners, however, have been generally uncertain about the best alternative. This research contributes to the art state not only by making explicit the testing sentences set development and by conducting a comparative study in three languages, but also by trying to demonstrate with quantitative data that the verb choice affects strategy used to resolve ambiguity.
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