Abstract: According to the research of Gennari (2004), the temporal reference which was included in the sub clause, was a composite time expression form, marked by the temporal reference adverbs. she found that the processing time of the key word(month) which was nearer time referenced to main clause in clause was faster than the key word(week) which was farther time referenced to main clause. She believed that readers preferred near temporal reference, the near time referenced event and the event included in main clause had stronger causal dependency. It was not clear how the temporal reference feature processed in the discourse. In this study, we investigated the processing of temporal reference in discourse and assumed it had some temporal shift processing characteristics. The reason was primarily that the temporal relations between the temporal reference event and the main event were temporal intervals, which was similar to the temporal shift. The experiment was a single factor within-subject design. We used eye movement technique to divide temporal reference processing(near reference, far reference)into the early stage study of time adverbs area and the late period study of critical event area, and compared temporal reference processing with temporal shift processing. EyelinkⅡeyetracker recorded eye movement indexes during the real-time reading of the entire text. The results showed the basic trend in time adverbs area processing: The eye movement indexes of far reference word processing and short temporal shift approached. The indexes of near reference word processing and long temporal shift approached. Critical event area showed the opposite basic trend: The indexes of far reference events processing and long temporal shift approached. The indexes of near reference events processing and short temporal shift approached. According to these results, we concluded that this complex processing characteristic of the temporal reference represented a new time-indexing representation: time-range representation. Time-range representation was closely related to the causal chain in discourse reading. In time adverbs area, the surface form of the shallow words(such as the semantic meaning and syntax of input words ) was explained by readers(Kintsch & van Dijk, 1978). Far temporal reference had a big temporal range to cover a small temporal range “today”. Far temporal reference maintained the continuity of the words, so it was similar to the indexes of short temporal shift, which was in accord with coherent expression. But near temporal reference and long temporal shift could not cover “today” and failed to maintain the continuity of the words, so their eye movement indexes approached. In critical event area, readers represented the described situation deeply. As far reference and long temporal shift were beyond today's scene, the degree of causal chains was weakened, more cognitive resource was needed. The situation caused by near temporal reference and short temporal shift was close to the situation of “today”; a more closely causal chain was formed, so the indexes of near reference word processing and short temporal shift approached. In conclusion, we initially thought the temporal reference processing had some temporal shift characteristics, and different temporal reference processing characteristics depended on the causal dependency relationship between the surface structure and deep structure.

Key words: discourse reading, temporal reference, temporal shift

摘要： 为了在语篇的层面上从浅层的语词加工和深层的情境加工两个角度考察时间参照加工的特点，采用单因素4水平重复测量实验设计，使用EyelinkⅡ型眼动仪比较了时间参照与时间转换的眼动指标。结果显示，时间词区：远参照与短时转换的眼动指标接近，近参照与长时转换的指标接近；关键事件区：远参照与长时转换的指标接近，近参照与短时转换的指标接近。结果表明时间参照表现出类似时间转换的特点，其特点与能否维系语篇的因果连贯性相关。

关键词: 语篇阅读, 时间参照, 时间转换