Resolving conflicts during sentence processing in L1 and L2: eye-tracking evidence from gender stereotypes and zero plurals

This eye-tracking study examined how L1 and L2 readers of German resolve two sources of processing difficulty: a conceptual–lexical conflict between gender stereotypes and masculine/feminine role nouns, and a formal–structural conflict induced by zero-marked plurals that are morphologically identical to singular forms. Sixty-nine L1 German speakers and 70 advanced L2 learners read sentences manipulating (i) role-noun gender bias (balanced/male-biased) × grammatical gender form (masculine/feminine) and (ii) plural marking (overt/zero) × number (singular/plural). In early measures (gaze duration), feminine forms of male-biased role nouns increased first-pass reading times in both groups, with no corresponding increase in regressions, suggesting local resolution during lexical access. By contrast, zero-marked plurals affected later processing: in plural contexts, ambiguous plurals triggered more regressions and longer rereading, especially in L2 readers, indicating protracted agreement integration and reanalysis when an overt number cue on the noun is absent. These findings dissociate conceptual–lexical and morphosyntactic conflict in L1/L2 sentence processing.