The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English

This paper aims to investigate the effect of both gender (mis)match and the direction of the gender mismatch on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native speakers of English and L1 Spanish learners of English with different proficiency levels (intermediate, u...

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Authors: Gandón-Chapela, Evelyn|||0000-0002-3999-073X, Gallardo del Puerto, Francisco|||0000-0001-8578-9861
Format: article
Publication Date:2025
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repository:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/36530
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10902/36530
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:VP-ellipsis
Reflexive pronouns
Gender mismatch
Proficiency level
English
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spelling The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of EnglishGandón-Chapela, Evelyn|||0000-0002-3999-073XGallardo del Puerto, Francisco|||0000-0001-8578-9861VP-ellipsisReflexive pronounsGender mismatchProficiency levelEnglishThis paper aims to investigate the effect of both gender (mis)match and the direction of the gender mismatch on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native speakers of English and L1 Spanish learners of English with different proficiency levels (intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced). Results showed that native speakers of English tend to prefer the sloppy reading over the strict one and are sensitive to gender mismatches when interpreting reflexives in VP-ellipsis constructions. Our data support a non-structural account of ellipsis resolution. Concerning learners, no gender mismatch effects were attested, since, in general, their preferred choice of sloppy interpretations was less frequent in both matched and mismatched contexts. Nevertheless, proficiency turned out to be a significant factor in the interpretation of gender-matched sentences, as intermediate learners interpreted the experimental sentences sloppily significantly less frequently than native speakers, whilst advanced learners did not. Finally, all participants showed a more marked preference for sloppy readings in feminine-masculine orderings.Open Library of HumanitiesUniversidad de Cantabria20252025-01-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501NAhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_be7fb7dd8ff6fe43info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttps://hdl.handle.net/10902/36530Glossa, 2025, 10(1), 1-33reponame:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabriainstname:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/365302026-06-02T12:39:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English
title The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English
spellingShingle The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English
Gandón-Chapela, Evelyn|||0000-0002-3999-073X
VP-ellipsis
Reflexive pronouns
Gender mismatch
Proficiency level
English
title_short The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English
title_full The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English
title_fullStr The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English
title_full_unstemmed The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English
title_sort The effect of gender (mis)match on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native and non-native speakers of English
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gandón-Chapela, Evelyn|||0000-0002-3999-073X
Gallardo del Puerto, Francisco|||0000-0001-8578-9861
author Gandón-Chapela, Evelyn|||0000-0002-3999-073X
author_facet Gandón-Chapela, Evelyn|||0000-0002-3999-073X
Gallardo del Puerto, Francisco|||0000-0001-8578-9861
author_role author
author2 Gallardo del Puerto, Francisco|||0000-0001-8578-9861
author2_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad de Cantabria
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv VP-ellipsis
Reflexive pronouns
Gender mismatch
Proficiency level
English
topic VP-ellipsis
Reflexive pronouns
Gender mismatch
Proficiency level
English
description This paper aims to investigate the effect of both gender (mis)match and the direction of the gender mismatch on the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns in cases of VP-ellipsis by native speakers of English and L1 Spanish learners of English with different proficiency levels (intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced). Results showed that native speakers of English tend to prefer the sloppy reading over the strict one and are sensitive to gender mismatches when interpreting reflexives in VP-ellipsis constructions. Our data support a non-structural account of ellipsis resolution. Concerning learners, no gender mismatch effects were attested, since, in general, their preferred choice of sloppy interpretations was less frequent in both matched and mismatched contexts. Nevertheless, proficiency turned out to be a significant factor in the interpretation of gender-matched sentences, as intermediate learners interpreted the experimental sentences sloppily significantly less frequently than native speakers, whilst advanced learners did not. Finally, all participants showed a more marked preference for sloppy readings in feminine-masculine orderings.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
NA
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_be7fb7dd8ff6fe43
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10902/36530
url https://hdl.handle.net/10902/36530
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Open Library of Humanities
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Open Library of Humanities
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Glossa, 2025, 10(1), 1-33
reponame:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
instname:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
instname_str Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
reponame_str UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
collection UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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