The processing of morphology in adult second language acquisition

Abstract

This study examines, via two masked priming experiments, the processing of inflectional and derivational morphology to identify whether first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers of Turkish demonstrate comparable processing patterns (e.g., decomposition, full listing or a dual route) in these two types of morphological processes. The target verbs were the same and the primes were presented in four prime conditions in both experiments: i) Identity (ver, ‘give’ – VER, ‘give’); (ii) Inflected Test (verdi, ‘give’ + past tense suffix’ – VER, ‘give’); Derived Test (vergi,‘tax’: ‘give’ + noun-forming derivational suffix’– VER, ‘give’; (iii) Orthographically-related (verem, ‘tuberculosis’–VER, ‘give’), and (iv) Unrelated (bak,‘look’ – VER ‘give’). The items were matched in terms of frequency and length. High and low frequency primes were matched with high and low frequency bare target roots in four conditions (HL, HH, LH and LL). The reaction times (RTs) for each prime condition were compared and the effects of root and surface frequency were analyzed across L1 and L2 groups. The findings revealed that L1 speakers employed decompositional pattern in processing inflectional morphology but not derivational morphology. L2 speakers, on the other hand, did not display any facilitation effects either with inflected or derived primes. No clear frequency effects were observed in either group. Findings suggest that L2 learners diverge from L1 speakers in processing inflectional morphology but not derivational morphology. In addition, the processing difference between inflectional and derivational morphemes implies L1 speakers’ access to dual routes in Turkish.