?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Real+Language+Users&rft.creator=Chipere%2C+Ngoni.&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Psycholinguistics&rft.description=The+idea+of+a+perfectly+competent+but+resource+limited+language+user+is+the+basis+of+many+models+of+sentence+comprehension.+It+is+widely+assumed+that+linguistic+competence+is+a)+uniform%3B+b)+generative%3B+c)+autonomous%3B+d)+automatic+and+e)+constant.+It+is+also+believed+that+the+free+expression+of+these+properties+is+frustrated+by+limits+in+the+availability+of+computational+resources.+However%2C+no+firm+experimental+evidence+for+the+classical+language+user+appears+to+exist.+Negative+evidence+for+each+assumption+is+reviewed+here+and+the+notion+of+resource+limitations+is+shown+to+be+suspect.+An+experiment+is+reported+which+tested+each+of+the+five+assumptions+underlying+the+conventional+notion+of+linguistic+competence.+It+was+found+that+native+speakers+of+English+a)+differed+in+grammatical+skill%3B+b)+often+failed+to+display+productivity%3B+c)+violated+syntax+in+favour+of+plausibility%3B+d)+expended+conscious+effort+to+comprehend+some+sentences+and+e)+appeared+to+adapt+to+novel+structures+as+the+experiment+progressed.+In+line+with+previous+studies%2C+a+relationship+was+found+between+comprehension+skill+and+formal+education.+A+new+finding+is+that+highly+educated+non-native+speakers+of+English+can+outperform+less+educated+native+speakers+of+English+in+comprehending+grammatically+challenging+English+sentences.+The+results+indicate+that+the+classical+language+user+is+an+inaccurate+model+of+real+language+users%2C+who+appear+to+differ+considerably+in+linguistic+skill.+A+number+of+specific+questions+for+further+research+are+raised.&rft.date=1998&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F712%2F1%2Freal.html&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F712%2F4%2Freal.PDF&rft.identifier=++Chipere%2C+Ngoni.++(1998)+Real+Language+Users.++%5BPreprint%5D++++(Unpublished)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F712%2F