A Longitudinal Investigation on L2 Korean Syntactic Development and Learner Variables: Evidence from Natural Learning Environment

Abstract

This longitudinal study analyzed syntactic development (Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency; CAF) of six L2 Korean learners in a natural learning context. The learners recalled the stories of a short animated video through speaking and writing every 3 months, from month 0 to 15. The learners’ responses were analyzed for a series of CAF measures and their cognitive, psychological, and social variables were investigated. The results showed that (i) L2 Korean learners’ speaking and writing in various time periods showed significant differences in spoken and written accuracy, and complexity; (ii) the correlation between spoken and written complexity, spoken and written accuracy, as well as spoken and written fluency were significant, and (iii) the regression analysis showed that learners’ cognitive, social, and psychological variables have significant effect on the L2 Korean syntactic development. The current study reports that L2 Korean learners engaged in self-learning in a natural learning environment without formal instruction made significant syntactic development. (Kyung Hee University)