本研究旨在比較臺灣英文學習者使用句法和語意處理於語句理解，語句處理模式之使用，以及句法和語意因素對於英文習得之影響。本研究之受試者為九十位北臺灣大學生。測試問題中包括正確和語意歧義語句，而受試者必須判斷語句之合理性。測試問題中與格詞的變數為：合理的主題，合理的接受者，與不合理的替代名詞。如受訪者在完整閱讀語句之前便發現語意歧義之處時，即代表此受試者傾向於使用語意處理於語句理解。如受訪者總是在完整閱讀語句之後才下評斷，即代表此受訪者傾向於使用句法處理於語句理解。本研究結果顯示使用句法或語意處理於判斷語句之合理性上並無顯著差異。然而，測試問題中與格詞之三項變數卻在語句理解困難度上有顯著差異。

The aim of this experiment is to investigate how EFL learners comprehend English sentences, how models of sentence processing are utilizes, and what syntactic and semantic factors affect the acquisition of English. The subjects of this experiment were 90 university freshmen in northern Taiwan. Ths subjects were asked to do a sense-judgment test. The test is a set of questions of different dative verbs with filler gaps of plausible themes, plausible recipients, or implausible themes and recipients. Data were collected and analyzed according to the correct interpretations of the acceptability of the questions and students' markings at the point of semantic ambiguity of the sentences. If the learner is capable of determining a certain test question to be unacceptable before the end of the sentence, then, we assume that the learner is employing semantic processing. If the learner makes judgments about the acceptability of the test questions at the end of the sentences, then, the learner is employing syntactic processing. The results showed that subjects using syntactic processing perform equally as well as the subjects using semantic processing in sentence comprehension. However, the levels of difficulty in interpreting the sentences by employing three filler types proved to be significant. From the findings, it reasonable to conclude that teaching syntactic analysis of verb-agent components and lexical information could be effective ways for EFL learners to enhance their English Proficiency.