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Online reflexive resolution in Sinhala learners of L2 English: Evidence for shallow processing

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Sujeewa HettiarachchiORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Abstract

This study investigated how first-language Sinhala learners of English as a second language (Sinhala-L1–English-L2 learners) acquire and process English reflexive binding, which requires local antecedents unlike Sinhala’s permissive long-distance binding. Fifty-five L2 learners and two control groups (English L1, Sinhala L1; N = 165) completed offline antecedent-selection and online eye-tracked sentence-picture matching tasks. Offline, learners selected the structurally accessible antecedent above chance across conditions, most robustly in c-command and only marginally in finite and non-finite contexts, indicating developing sensitivity to English locality constraints rather than wholesale L1 transfer. Online, above-chance performance emerged only in the c-command condition, while finite and non-finite conditions fell to or below chance level. Eye-tracking and reaction-time data further revealed slower, more variable processing and a preference for discourse-prominent antecedents in finite contexts. These findings reveal a nuanced offline-online pattern in L2 processing: developing sensitivity to English locality constraints is not yet consistently deployed during real-time comprehension. The results are consistent with the Shallow Structure Hypothesis and highlight the challenges of applying partially reassembled structural features in real-time processing when L1 and L2 binding domains diverge.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Hettiarachchi S, Indrarathne B, Vanek N, Matejka S

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Second Language Research

Year: 2026

Pages: epub ahead of print

Online publication date: 24/08/2026

Acceptance date: 02/04/2018

Date deposited: 25/08/2026

ISSN (print): 0267-6583

ISSN (electronic): 1477-0326

Publisher: Sage Journals

URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/02676583261470235

DOI: 10.1177/02676583261470235

Data Access Statement: The anonymized data and materials supporting the findings of this study are openly available via the Open Science Framework (OSF).

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