Mandarin Relative Clause Production by Second Language Learners: Subject–Object Asymmetry and Individual Differences

This study investigated which type of Mandarin Chinese relative clause (RC)—subject‐extracted relative clause (SRC) or object‐extracted relative clause (ORC)—imposes greater processing demands on second language (L2) learners’ production. Sixty‐two native (L1) Mandarin speakers and 72 L1 Korean learners of Mandarin participated in a picture description task. Production accuracy, latency, and duration were analyzed as indicators of different stages in sentence production. The results revealed an SRC advantage in both L1 and L2 production latency, but a contradictory ORC advantage in L2 production accuracy and duration. Furthermore, individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) and L2 proficiency modulated the magnitude of subject–object asymmetry; this effect was more pronounced among participants with lower WMC and those with lower L2 proficiency. We propose a comprehensive perspective for examining subject–object asymmetry in Mandarin RCs, moving beyond a narrow focus on the dichotomy of an SRC versus ORC advantage.