The effects of grammatical role and sentence structural parallelism on pronoun anaphora resolution in Chinese–English bilinguals: the moderation of working memory

Abstract

No consensus exists on how grammatical role, parallelism, and working memory (WM) jointly shape L2 pronoun resolution, and Chinese–English bilinguals’ strategies remain unexplored in previous studies. This study examines the resolution of ambiguous pronouns in Chinese–English bilinguals with higher and lower WM capacity. The results show that Chinese–English bilinguals were more inclined to use the strategy of structural parallelism in anaphora resolution. The subject-assignment strategy only promoted subject pronouns under the parallel structure. Working memory capacity also influenced efficiency and strategy: bilinguals with higher WM capacity resolved pronouns faster and showed a stronger preference for subject antecedents, while those with lower WM capacity relied more on locality strategies. Moreover, we found an interaction among grammatical role, structural parallelism, and WM, with high-capacity bilinguals resolving subject pronouns significantly faster than object pronouns in parallel structures. These findings highlight the influence of linguistic and cognitive factors on pronoun anaphora resolution and suggest that sentence structure, grammatical roles, and WM should be given particular attention in L2 teaching and learning.