This study investigates sentence processing in Standard Arabic (SA) by
examining subject- and object-extracted relative clauses (SRCs and ORCs)
through eye tracking. We test memory- and expectation-based theories of
processing difficulty, and whether good-enough or noisy-channel processing
leads to misinterpretations in ORCs. Our results find increased processing
difficulty in ORCs, supporting expectation-based theories; however, this
processing difficulty is not localized to the disambiguating region
(relative clause verb) as predicted, but rather at the integration of the
second noun phrase (relative clause NP). The findings support
good-enough/noisy-channel processing theories, suggesting that readers may
accept a noisy SRC interpretation of an ORC, and thus bypass integration
costs at the relative clause NP.