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

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.