對語言使用者來說，能夠在線上語句處理的過程中快速地將反身代名詞指涉到所對應之先行詞是一項非常重要的能力。各個語言中針對反身代名詞的語法限制不盡相同。以英文為例，反身代名詞himself/herself的指涉對象主要受約束A原則限制(約束理論Binding Theory, Chomsky, 1981)。而漢語反身代名詞則分為兩種，一種是單一詞素反身代名詞自己(self)，另一種是多重詞素反身代名詞他自己/她自己。這兩種反身代名詞又各自有不同限制，也不完全與英文反身代名詞的語法現象一致。先前針對英語為母語之反身代名詞語句處理的研究已發現結構限制(structural constraints)為重要的影響因素 (Badecker & Straub, 2002; Sturt, 2003, etc.)。然而，針對漢語反身代名詞的語句處理研究卻相對鮮少。因此，本文的其中一項研究目標為探討漢語母語者的反身代名詞線上語句處理之影響因素。此外，本研究同時也探討英語為第二外語之反身代名詞線上處理歷程。過去研究發現英語第二外語學習者在處理英語反身代名詞時主要受非結構訊息所主導(Felser & Cunnings, 2012; Felser et al., 2009)。然而，過去實驗材料皆以專有名詞(人名)當作無法指涉的對象(inaccessible antecedent)。相較於有性別偏見的職業名詞，專有名詞內含的性別訊息可能較容易影響讀者的語句閱讀。此外，專有名詞也較容易被視為句子中的主語(Sandford, Moar & Garrod,1988)。因此，本研究之實驗材料將句首主詞分成兩種不同類型—專有名詞(proper name)與含性別偏見之職業名詞 (stereotypical occupational noun)以探討讀者在語句處理時是否受到不同類型名詞(noun type)的影響。
本論文主要分為兩個眼動實驗，實驗一研究漢語母語者之多重詞素反身代名詞線上處理歷程。我們探究結構約束是否為線上語句處理時的主要因素，以及名詞類型在指涉過程(antecedent-searching)的影響。研究發現，結構約束以及非結構約束的影響在代名詞線上處理時皆在後期處理階段才較為顯著，而初期處理階段主要為詞語辨識，且不同名詞類型可對漢語反身代名詞的語句處理造成影響。實驗二研究對象為英語第二外語學習者。我們探究非結構約束以及名詞類型的影響。研究發現，在線上代名詞處理的初期階段，英語第二外語學習者可遵照約束A原則，並受到結構限制的影響。反之，非結構約束及不同類型名詞的影響在後期處理階段才顯現。
此研究主要貢獻為三。第一，在選擇漢語反身代名詞的指涉對象時，漢語母語者和英語母語者一樣擁有能夠遵照約束A原則的隱性知識(implicit knowledge)。第二，若提供適當的刺激材料，英語第二外語學習者也能夠在語句處理的初期階段就遵照結構約束。此發現與先前提出之淺層結構模型理論相佐。第三，本研究確立非結構約束(例如：性別線索及名詞類型)在線上處理以及非線上處理之重要影響。

Making connections between a reflexive and its antecedent rapidly during online reading is an important ability for both native speakers and language learners. The constraints on the interpretation of reflexives differ across languages such as English and Mandarin. In English, the syntax of reflexives is generally constrained by the Binding Principle A (Binding Theory, (Chomsky, 1981). In Mandarin, the two types of reflexives, the mono-morphemic reflexive ziji (self) and the poly-morphemic reflexive like ta-ziji (him/her+self), have different rules for interpretations and neither of them follow the exact same rules as reflexives in English. Previous findings on the processing of reflexives in L1 English have highlighted the critical role of structural constraints (Badecker & Straub, 2002; Sturt, 2003, etc.). Yet, the processing of reflexives in Mandarin has received relatively little attention. Therefore, one of the goals in this thesis was to find out how different constraints may affect Mandarin native speakers’ online processing of reflexives in their L1. In addition, this study also examined how the structural constraints and non-structural information may influence the online processing of reflexives in non-native languages. Past studies show that second language (L2) learners rely more on the non-structural information when processing of reflexives in their L2 (Felser & Cunnings, 2012; Felser, Sato, & Bertenshaw, 2009). However, the test paradigm in these studies all contained proper names as the inaccessible antecedents in the matrix subject position, and this could potentially create a bias in attracting more attention from readers for its salient gender information. Also, a proper name, compared to a stereotypical occupational noun, is more likely to be treated as the thematic subject of the sentence (Sanford, Moar, & Garrod, 1988). Thus, in this study, we improved the test paradigm, and tested if readers are influenced by the use of different noun types (proper names vs. occupational nouns) when processing reflexives in L1 Mandarin and L2 English.
Two eye-tracking experiments were conducted in the present study. Experiment 1 investigated the online processing of reflexives in L1 Mandarin. We examined whether Mandarin native speakers applied the syntactic constraints immediately during online processing of the poly-morphemic reflexives ta-ziji, and how proper names or occupational nouns in the matrix subject position could affect their antecedent-searching process. The findings show that Mandarin native speakers were affected by both the structural constraint and non-structural information until later processing stages. The initial processing stages were mainly about the word recognition, and the antecedent searching process occurs at relatively later stages. We also found out that the noun type can be an influential factor during processing of the reflexives in Mandarin.
Experiment 2 investigated the online processing of reflexives in L2 English to see whether Mandarin-speaking learners of English violate the syntactic constraints and rely on the non-structural constraints initially. Also, we examined whether the noun type of the inaccessible antecedents may play a role during the online processing of reflexives. The findings showed that, with our modified experimental paradigm, the L2 learners could actually apply the structural constraint of Binding Principle A during the early processing stages. The effect of the non-structural information such as gender cue and noun type only showed up at the later processing stages.
This study made significant contributions to the understanding of processing reflexives in L1 Mandarin and L2 English. First, we confirmed that Mandarin native speakers have the implicit knowledge of Binding Principle A, as English native speakers do. Second, on the contrary to the traditional claims in the Shallow Structural Hypothesis, when providing suitable paradigms, the L2 learners were able to employ the structural constraints during initial processing stages. The present study also verified the pivotal role of the non-structural information (gender cue & noun type) during both online antecedent retrieval process and offline antecedent selection preference.

Table of Contents
List of Tables iv
List of Figures vi
Abstract ix
Acknowledgement xi
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Sentence processing & anaphora resolution 1
1.2 Motivation 2
1.3 The present study 4
1.4 Significance 6
Chapter 2 Literature Review 7
2.1 The basic syntax of reflexives 7
2.1.1 Reflexives in English 7
2.1.2 Reflexives in Mandarin 9
2.2 Processing reflexives in native languages 15
2.2.1 Online processing of reflexives in English 15
2.2.2 Online processing of reflexives in Mandarin 21
2.3 Processing reflexives in a second language (L2) 26
2.4 The effects of noun type in online sentence processing 33
2.5 Summary and research questions 38
Chapter 3 Experiment 1 – Processing ta-ziji in L1 Mandarin 41
3.1 Purpose 41
3.2 Methodology 41
3.2.1 Participants 41
3.2.2 Test materials 42
3.2.3 Predictions 47
3.2.4 Procedure 47
3.2.5 Data collection and eye-movement measures 50
3.2.6 Data analysis 52
3.3 Offline judgment task results and discussion 53
3.3.1 Results 53
3.3.2 Discussion 56
3.4 Eye-movement results and discussion 57
3.4.1 Comprehension accuracy 57
3.4.2 Eye-movement measures 58
3.4.3 Discussion 64
Chapter 4 Experiment 2 – Processing reflexives in L2 English 67
4.1 Purpose 67
4.2 Methodology 67
4.2.1 Participants 67
4.2.2 Test materials 69
4.2.3 Predictions 72
4.2.4 Procedure 73
4.2.5 Data collection and eye-movement measures 73
4.2.6 Data analysis 73
4.3 Offline judgment task results and discussion 73
4.3.1 Results 74
4.3.2 Discussion 77
4.4 Eye-movement results and discussion 78
4.4.1 Comprehension accuracy 78
4.4.2 Eye-movement measures 78
4.4.3 Discussion 85
Chapter 5 General Discussion 87
5.1 Summary of the findings of the two experiments 87
5.2 Processing reflexives in L1 Mandarin 90
5.2.1 Knowledge of Binding Principle A in L1 Mandarin 90
5.2.2 Structural constraints vs. non-structural information in online processing of reflexives in L1 Mandarin 91
5.3 Processing reflexives in L2 English 93
5.3.1 Knowledge of Binding Principle A in L2 English 93
5.2.1 Structural constraints vs. non-structural information in online processing of reflexives in L2 English 94
5.4 The effect of noun type: proper name vs. occupational noun 97
Chapter 6 Conclusion 100
6.1 Summary of the findings 100
6.2 Contributions and Suggestions 101
References 103
Appendix A. Gender rating survey on Mandarin stereotypical occupational nouns 108
Appendix B. Experimental stimuli for Experiment 1 110
Appendix C. Mandarin offline antecedent judgment task 114
Appendix D. Corresponding scores of the standardized English proficiency tests 118
Appendix E. L2 learners’ language learning background survey 119
Appendix F. Gender rating survey on English stereotypical occupational nouns 120
Appendix G. Experimental stimuli for Experiment 2 121
Appendix H. English offline antecedent judgment task 124
Appendix I. English vocabulary check questionnaire 129

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