L1 Interpretation Strategies of English and Korean Speakers and L2 Interpretation Strategies of English-speaking Learners of Korean

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare L1 sentence interpretation strategies in English and Korean within the paradigm of the Competition Model. It further attempts to examine the L2 sentence processing strategies by English-speaking learners of Korean as a second language (KSL) at varying L2 proficiency levels. The present study involved three groups of participants: native English speakers, native Korean speakers, and English-speaking learners of KSL at different proficiency levels (i.e., beginning, intermediate, and advanced). The participants were asked to identify the agents of sentences, each consisting of one verb and two nouns, in which animacy and word order cues either competed or were consistent with each other. The results showed that native English speakers relied heavily on word order as the major cue to L1 sentence interpretation, while native Korean speakers showed great dependence on animacy as the dominant source for L1 sentence interpretation. This study also found a general shift from the syntax-based processing strategies to semantics-based ones in Korean L2 acquisition in accordance with the English KSL learners’ L2 proficiency levels. Learners with lower L2 proficiency transferred L1-based animacy processing strategies to their Korean interlanguage. As their L2 proficiency increased, English KSL learners gradually became less dependent on L1-based animacy processing strategies and more reliant on L2-based word order processing strategies to comprehend sentences in Korean.