@article{article_541071, title={Anaphora resolution in Italian-Turkish late bilinguals in immigrant setting}, journal={RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi}, pages={384–397}, year={2019}, DOI={10.29000/rumelide.541071}, author={Ergun, Anna Lia}, keywords={Language attrition,Turkish,Italian,Interface hypothesis}, abstract={<p class="zet"> <span lang="EN-US">The research carried out in the recent years indicates that the structures at the syntax-discourse interface fall in a vulnerable domain for bilinguals (Sorace, 2011 for review). It has been proposed that cross-linguistic interference occurs when syntactic features of the two languages partially overlap (Müller & Hulk 2001 among others) due to the rise of optionality. Subsequent studies (e.g., Sorace & Serratrice, 2009; Serratrice et al., 2012) found a cross-linguistic interference in bilinguals speaking two typologically similar languages. Recently, Sorace (2016) has proposed that interference may be due to the cognitive load of processing two languages. The present study analyzes the data collected by employing an Acceptability Judgment Test on the interpretation of backward anaphora in complex sentences by twelve native Italian speakers, who had learned Turkish as adults in immigration setting, with twelve matched Italian monolinguals as a control group. It is assumed that Italian and Turkish do not differ with respect to the antecedent biases of null and overt subject pronouns in the contexts under investigation. The focus of this study is on the acceptability of an overt/null subject in intrasentential anaphora with three conditions: general sentences, quantifier sentences, and subjunctive sentences. Our results show that bilingual speakers reject, significantly more, the null subject in an embedded subjunctive sentence as referring to the subject in the matrix sentence than the monolinguals. These data seem to contradict previous studies (Sorace & Filiaci 2006), wherein it was found that monolinguals and bilinguals differ in the interpretation of an overt pronoun. A discussion on why a null pronoun is vulnerable in Italian-Turkish bilinguals is needed. Though this study reinvigorates the hypothesis that the structures at a syntax-discourse interface are vulnerable and that bilingual processing cost may contribute to cross-linguistic interference. <o:p> </o:p> </span> </p>}, number={14}, publisher={Yakup YILMAZ}