Binding Interpretations of Korean EFL Learners: Focusing on SSC-violating English Reflexives

Abstract

This study investigated how Korean EFL learners would respond to pragmatically salient English reflexives that violate syntactic binding condition. Specially focusing on English sentences with reflexives violating SSC (Specified Subject Condition, Chomsky, 1980), the study probed whether the EFL learners – compared with English native speakers – would accept Long-Distance (LD) binding of English reflexives, which is syntactically not allowed in English. In addition, the study examined whether different types of experimental stimuli (i.e., simultaneous vs. sequential presentation of context-sentence material) could affect the interpretations of English reflexives. A picture-based Truth Value Judgment Task, composed of 80 test items, was conducted with 46 Korean EFL learners and 22 English native speakers. The results demonstrated the following: i) Korean EFL learners showed higher acceptance rates than English native speakers with the sentences representing LD-binding of SSC-violating antecedent (i.e., core binding violation in English), especially when the contextual information given by pictures preferred LD–antecedents; ii) Distinct types of experimental stimuli-presentation (i.e., simultanoues vs. sequential) did not make significant effects.