Interpretation of Korean Null Pronouns in subject and object position: Comparing native and non-native speakers

Elsi Kaiser,Silvia Kim

doi:10.3765/plsa.v6i1.5043

Abstract

We report an experiment that investigates how native and non-native Korean speakers’ interpretation of null pronouns in subject and object position is influenced by structural and discourse-level factors. We compare native Korean speakers to L2 Korean learners whose L1, Spanish, only has null pronouns in subject position. We find that native Korean speakers’ interpretation of subject and object null pronouns is guided by structural factors as well as discourse-level coherence relations, with subject nulls being more sensitive to coherence relations than object nulls. In contrast, our results suggest that L2 speakers’ interpretation of null pronouns in Korean is less influenced by coherence relations. Our results support claims that interface phenomena are challenging in L2 acquisition and provide new evidence that this occurs with null pronouns in L2 even when the L1 has null pronouns.

Highlights

The need to refer to already mentioned entities in discourse is a very common and fundamental part of human communication and has been researched from many different perspectives
We look at Korean to investigate how comprehenders – both native and non-native speakers – identify the intended antecedent when they are faced with an under-informative form like a null pronoun
This paper reports two studies investigating the nature of Korean null pronoun interpretation by native Korean speakers and L2 learners of Korean whose first language is Spanish

Summary

Introduction

The need to refer to already mentioned entities in discourse is a very common and fundamental part of human communication and has been researched from many different perspectives. Languages often provide multiple linguistic options for speakers to refer to the intended referents (e.g., nouns, overt and null pronouns, demonstrative pronouns). Comprehenders are faced with the task of identifying the intended antecedent. We look at Korean to investigate how comprehenders – both native and non-native speakers – identify the intended antecedent when they are faced with an under-informative form like a null pronoun. Following Givón (1983), Ariel (1990), Gundel et al (1993), inter alia, there are several properties that guide reference resolution: (i) properties of the antecedent itself, (ii) the nature of the referential form, (iii) aspects of the linguistic context, and (iv) individuals’ cognitive abilities such as differences in the working memory (see Kaiser & Fedele 2019 for an overview). Many researchers agree that multiple factors guide the process of reference resolution

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