The Comprehension of Garden-Path Structures by Iranian EFL Learners

The present study sought to investigate the comprehension of Garden-Path structures by Iranian EFL learners. 50 female students of Kharazmi English Language Institute in Karaj participated in this study. All of the participants were native speakers of Persian studying in Kharazmi English language institute in Karaj, Iran. They ranged from 18 to 30 in terms of age. The participants were administered two tests. A multiple choice test for English language proficiency test(PET) to determine the level of the participants and a multiple choice garden-path test including garden-path and non garden-path questions to measure the possible effect of garden path structures on subjects' comprehension and to measure the participants' knowledge of garden-path structures. The same tests were presented to participants of advanced and intermediate level . Repeated measure ANOVA procedures were applied to analyze the obtained data. The findings showed that the advanced group performed better on the garden-path test. There was a significant dependency between the English language proficiency level and comprehension of garden-path structures. We can claim that language proficiency affects Iranian EFL learners' comprehension of garden-path structures and garden-path structures influence Iranian EFL learners' comprehension. The findings of the present study may have implications for L2 learners and teachers.