Do Speakers Produce Different Referring Expressions in Their Native Language

ABSTRACT: This article explores empirically how Arabic speakers produce referring expressions in their native and nonnative languages. Twenty six native Arabic speakers, who were also fluent in English, took part in the empirical study. Participants were presented with objects in visual domains and they were asked to describe the (marked) target object by typing a description which can uniquely identify the target to their addressee. The data reveal that there are no significant differences between referring expressions produced in native and non-native languages.

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