Spoken sentence comprehension in Mandarin-English bilinguals: a case against the universal processing advantage of subject-relatives.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

This study investigates sentence comprehension in Mandarin-English bilinguals, focusing on whether the widely reported, yet contested, subject-relative processing advantage extends to bilingual speakers. We evaluate which theoretical accounts, based on syntactic structure and canonicity, best explain cross-linguistic patterns of sentence processing.

Methods

Using a sentence-picture matching task, we examined the comprehension of canonical (e.g., actives) and non-canonical (e.g., passives) sentence structures in English and Mandarin for bilingual speakers of varying ages and Mandarin and English proficiency levels across two separate studies (n = 18 and n = 35).

Results

In English, bilingual participants exhibited a robust canonical sentence

SUBMITTER: Rishi P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12900535 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature