Reference management in bilingual narratives (C03)

• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 281511265

The project aims to account for patterns of variation in the processing of prominence structures. In particular, we investigate how German–Italian and German–English bilingual children ranging in age from 8 to 12 integrate morphosyntactic and discourse information during narrative reading, by using eye-tracking experiments. Bilinguals may differ from each other in their sensitivity to morphosyntactic or discourse information during discourse processing. Among the factors that contribute to this variation, we explore the role of cross-linguistic influence, differences in bilingual profiles in terms of language and literacy exposure, individual cognitive skills and bilinguals’ ability to share discourse strategies across their two languages.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1252: Prominence in Language
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Christiane Bongartz; Professor Dr. Jacopo Torregrossa