Implicit linguistic processing of inflection morphemes: a self-paced reading task with Brazilian Portuguese-English learners.

This study investigated implicit knowledge of inflectional morphemes by Brazilian English learners as a second language (L2). Specifically, we examined whether they could detect the omission of third-person singular (-s) and simple past (-ed) morphemes; using a self-paced reading task that required automated knowledge of the L2. Additionally, we administered an English proficiency test to classify participants into higher and lower proficiency groups. The results indicate that both higher and lower proficiency participants were not sensitive to the lack of -s and -ed morphemes, as their reaction times were similar in grammatical and ungrammatical sentences involving both morphemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]