抄録
Although recent studies have reported that second language (L2) speakers, like first language (L1) speakers, are sensitive to frequency effects of multiword units, findings regarding how language proficiency modulates the time course and nature of these effects remain mixed. The present study used eye tracking to examine how L2 proficiency modulates the online processing of English verb–noun collocations, operationalized in terms of the transitional probability (TP) of the noun (e.g., lose control/courage). Unlike previous L2 eye-tracking studies, the present study included L2 learners at different proficiency levels and employed early eye-tracking measures to capture fine-grained temporal dynamics. Intermediate L2 learners (lower B1 in CEFR) were compared with advanced L2 learners (upper B1 in CEFR) and L1 speakers, and TP effects were examined at the single-word level. The results revealed that sensitivity to TP was both proficiency-dependent and stage-specific. Advanced L2 learners patterned with L1 speakers in showing TP effects in first fixation duration, indicating early sensitivity to collocational information. In contrast, intermediate L2 learners did not show TP effects at this early stage; instead, their sensitivity emerged in later measures and was accompanied by increased refixations and regressions. These patterns suggest that less proficient L2 learners rely on controlled, attention-demanding processing, whereas more proficient learners exhibit earlier and more automatic access to collocational information. Taken together, the findings indicate that native-like sensitivity to L2 collocations does not emerge uniformly across learners, but develops gradually as a function of proficiency and processing stage. While sensitivity to collocational frequency may be observed relatively early, native-like processing—characterized by early, automatic access without the need for later reanalysis—appears to be attainable only at more advanced levels of L2 proficiency.
