Can L2 sentence processing strategies be native-like? Evidence from English speakers' L2 processing of Chinese base-generated-topic sentences

•Native-like sentence processing is found in L2 Chinese.•L2 learners are able to use both syntactic and semantic information in their L2 processing.•The base-generated topic is initially analyzed as the subject.•The syntactically identified topic is processed as a potential filler.

This article reports on an empirical study examining English speakers' L2 processing of Chinese base-generated-topic (BGT) sentences. Forty-four highly proficient English-speaking L2 learners of Chinese and 23 native Chinese speakers were involved in the study. Results of a self-paced reading task reveal that both native Chinese speakers' and L2 Chinese learners' processing of Chinese BGT sentences is syntactically induced in a top-down manner. English speakers are sensitive to and are able to make use of syntactic cues as well as semantic information in their processing of Chinese BGT sentences. The study provides disconfirming evidence against the Shallow Structure Hypothesis (Clahsen and Felser, 2006a,b), which predicts that unlike native speakers, L2 learners do not rely on structure-based processing strategies when solving ambiguities in L2 sentence processing.