Focus Assignment of Preverbal Also During Sentence Comprehension

Abstract

The study investigates how Korean L2 learners of English resolve focus ambiguity when reading a sentence containing preverbal also. The scope of preverbal also under investigation is restricted to a verb, a direct object NP and a verb phrase. It pursues the research question of which analysis Korean learners of English with three English proficiency levels prefer to have as a default focus meaning among a direct object NP-focused, V-focused and VP-focused interpretations. Data collection was carried out using a sentence-completing task, in which they were asked to fill in the blank with one of the three focus choices provided in a story. The results showed that Korean L2 learners with intermediate and high proficiency as well as the English native speakers as a control group favor an NP-focused interpretation. On the contrary, the low L2 group displayed a preferential interpretation based on not only a direct object NP but also a verb. The results are discussed in relation with processing mechanisms and L1 transfer.