Abstract：Abstract：It is controversial among existing work on whether Chinese EFL learners can attain automatic competence of processing subject-verb agreement in a nativelike way. Using self-paced reading paradigm, the present study investigated the online processing of adjacent and nonadjacent subject-verb (dis)agreement by Chinese EFL learners, who revealed significantly different proficiency levels but similar working memory capacity. Results showed that：1）neither the proficient EFL learners nor the less- proficient EFL learners revealed nativelike automaticity；2) in the adjacent condition, the reaction times of the proficient EFL learners differed from those of the less-proficient EFL learners significantly. The results are consistent with the morphological congruency hypothesis and also prove that with proficiency levels improved Chinese EFL learners are advancing along the continuum of automatization, shedding some light on the current English teaching in China.
