An Eye-Tracking Study on the Word Order Preference and the Effect of Phrasal Length in Korean

Abstract

Objectives: Although Korean is a typical free word order language, when the same logical meaning is realized in several sentences with different word order, preference for the word order and the processibility of that sentence may vary. In this study, we investigated the word order preference on the instrumental adjunct and argument (direct object) of Korean when they were both short and when one of the two components was lengthened in the sentence using Eye-tracking technology. Additionally, the underlying cognitive mechanisms of the word order preference were discussed.Methods: Thirty-five college students were asked to read 24 sentences consisting of a condition in which both the adjunct and argument were short and one of them was lengthened, and their gaze was tracked.Results: When both components were short, the preferred word order was not confirmed. However, when one of the two components was lengthened, the canonical word order effect of putting the instrumental adjunct before the object argument and the LbS (Long before Short) effect of placing the lengthened components before the short ones were confirmed.Conclusion: The word order preference seems to reflect the strategy of keeping essential components close to the verb and minimizing the efficiency of integrated processing between critical components such as the head of an argument. However, the preference may vary depending on the burden of sentence processing or the level of the cognitive capacity of the processor. The timing at which word order preference is reflected may also vary depending on how strong the effect of the canonical order between two components is.