Measuring Korean adult learners’ explicit and implicit knowledge of English grammatical structures

Abstract

The study investigates Korean English learners’ explicit and implicit knowledge of 17 grammatical structures. Participants consisted of 100 undergraduate and graduate school students. Their explicit and implicit knowledge was measured using the Untimed Grammatical Judgment Test, the Metalinguistic Knowledge Test, and the Ellicited Oral Imitation Test, all of which were developed by Ellis (2005, 2006). The study also examines the relationships between multiple learner variables and the two types of knowledge. The study results show that the Korean English learners possessed more developed explicit grammar knowledge compared to their implicit knowledge. The verb complement, past tense, and third person singular -s were the top three highest scored structures in explicit knowledge, while the verb complement, possessive’s and adverb position were the highest for implicit knowledge. The past tense, third person singular -s, and since/for were highly scored for explicit knowledge but lower for implicit knowledge, while the possessive ’s, adverb position, and embedded question were high for implicit knowledge but low for explicit knowledge. Among the learner variables, previous experience living abroad showed a significant impact on both types of knowledge. The starting age of learning English and prior experience learning English grammar influenced only implicit knowledge. The pedagogical implications are provided along with suggestions for future study.