Resolving Misunderstanding through an Extended Sequence

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.

Taking a conversation analytic perspective, this study examines advanced non-heritage Korean learners' repair initiation practices. By examining interaction between Korean native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs), the study particularly addresses two questions: 1) Is there any similarity and/or difference between NSs and NNSs in terms of their repair practices? 2) Is there any similarity and/or difference between advanced and lower level speakers in terms of their repair practices? In terms of repair initiation format, NNSs display a similar preference with NSs. However, in their responses to the repair initiations, we found a different pattern between NSs and NNSs. Speakers sometimes employ different repair initiation formats from target issues. While NNSs tend to rely more on the surface format in interpreting the repair initiations, NSs frequently notice the discrepancy and interpret hearing repair initiations as understanding problems. Advanced Korean learners show some differences from lower level speakers in terms of preferred other-repair initiation formats. They produce most understanding repair initiations whereas the lower level speakers produce substantially more hearing repair initiations. Also, advanced speakers tend to use 'questioning-repeat', as a turn-holder, mostly in the subsequent turn to a NS's question.

In Korean, a preceding stop sound is obligatorily nasalized by an immediately following nasal stop. Interestingly, this nasalization also occurs in English but less often than in Korean. Based on the difference in nasalization between English and Korean, this study investigated the degree and frequency of nasalization made by native English and Korean speakers when they produce the English stops /b, d, g, p, t, k/ before the nasals sounds /m, n/ in sentences. Twenty-five participants performed the task to speak 12 target items mixed with filler sentences. The results revealed that the native English speakers rarely nasalized the stops before the nasal sounds. On the contrary, the native Korean speakers generally nasalized them while each individual showed the different degree and frequency of nasalization from no nasalization to complete nasalization. It was also discovered that the voiced stops were more frequently nasalized than the voiceless stops across the Korean participants. Besides, the higher their English proficiency, the less likely nasalization appeared. It signifies that phonetic fine-tuning for less frequent nasalization in English develops among Korean speakers as they become more proficient in English.

Taking a conversation analytic perspective, this study examines advanced non-heritage Korean learners' repair initiation practices. By examining interaction between Korean native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs), the study particularly addresses two questions: 1) Is there any similarity and/or difference between NSs and NNSs in terms of their repair practices? 2) Is there any similarity and/or difference between advanced and lower level speakers in terms of their repair practices? In terms of repair initiation format, NNSs display a similar preference with NSs. However, in their responses to the repair initiations, we found a different pattern between NSs and NNSs. Speakers sometimes employ different repair initiation formats from target issues. While NNSs tend to rely more on the surface format in interpreting the repair initiations, NSs frequently notice the discrepancy and interpret hearing repair initiations as understanding problems. Advanced Korean learners show some differences from lower level speakers in terms of preferred other-repair initiation formats. They produce most understanding repair initiations whereas the lower level speakers produce substantially more hearing repair initiations. Also, advanced speakers tend to use 'questioning-repeat', as a turn-holder, mostly in the subsequent turn to a NS's question.

In order to understand how grammatical and thematic roles cues influence the anaphora resolution processes of Korean EFL learners and how they differ from those of native speakers of English and Korean respectively, an experiment employing a self-paced reading task was performed with native speakers of English (NSE), higher-level learners (HLL), lower-level learners (LLL) and native speakers of Korean (NSK). The results suggest that, in general, grammatical and thematic role cues seem to influence anaphora resolution processes by Korean EFL learners. It was faster for them to read sentences starting with the subject reference than the object-of-PP reference. It also took shorter time for them to read sentences with Goal reference than those with Source reference. In addition, it took longer for the learners, especially lower-level learners, to read sentences with pronouns than those with proper nouns. When comparing the data of target language and native language speakers, surprising similarities were found in both native speaker groups and higher-level learners, confirming the existence of a universal nature of language processing. The lower-level learners’ anaphora resolution processes, on the other hand, showed an independent pattern, possibly because of their limited proficiency and their dependency on semantic cues.

Learning styles refer to the variation that exists in the ability of people to accumulate interpret and assimilate information. A learning style is an individual’s preferred way of learning and scholars (Reid (1995), Wagaman (2008), Montgomery and Groat (1998) to mention a few) have established that when a teacher’s style matches the student’s learning styles then learning will occur. Research evidences (Howe 1997), Burham (2008) and Sax Leonard (2008)) support that gender plays a unique role in the way we learn. This paper thus seeks to investigate the relationship (if any) between gender and learning styles with its’ possible implications for language teaching. The paper draws conclusions that majority of females’ preferred learning style is the diverging and assimilating (thinkers than doers) while a greater percentage of the males fall under converging and accommodating learning styles (doers than thinkers). Girls are motivated by the desire to impress adults while boys are motivated by the object or material to be learnt. This of course has serious implications for language teaching. Lastly, language teachers are encouraged to develop their instructional packages to cater for the differences in the students’ gender and learning styles. Other stakeholders in the education industry are to accommodate the knowledge of different genders and learning styles in educational planning.

The present study examines how Japanese language learners use referential expressions in discourse, especially topicalized or non-topicalized subjects, in addition to whether the first language of a Japanese language learner influences the choice of referential expressions. The text of narrative stories, written in both the subject’s first language and second language (i.e. Japanese) by native Chinese speakers and native Korean speakers, as well as text written by Japanese native speakers, were analyzed. As a result, the first language influence and common difficulties were observed in the use of referential expressions by Japanese language learners. Using referential expressions is not simply a matter of negative or positive transfer.

The current study investigates the effects of novel spacing systems on the reading performance of native and nonnative Korean speakers. It conducted two experiments. The first experiment measured native and nonnative speakers’ (N = 24) eye movements while they read normal, spaced, and unspaced texts. The normal text used the Korean language’s current spacing system. In the spaced text, linguistic markers were separated from their preceding noun phrases. The unspaced text had no spaces at all. We measured performance by correct answer rate, fixation rate, regression ratio, and reading speed. The second experiment measured native and nonnative Korean speakers’ (N = 69) eye movements while reading the same texts, but they also received three weeks of training on novel spacing systems according to their assigned group. It conducted a survey to examine each participant’s perceived reading efficiency on each spacing system. The evidence showed facilitating effects of spaced text for native English speakers; unspaced text did not disrupt native Korean speakers’ reading performance. The spaced text showed potential for its application in second language learning. The novel spacing systems were proved to be learnable, indicating the possible use in education.

This study provides a sociocultural account on whether heritage and non-heritage Korean speakers use the first person plural pronoun wuli ‘we’ in the same way as native Korean speakers do. Previous studies claim that wuli is used to refer to the speaker’s in-group, and the concept of ‘ingroup’ is utilized to account for its functions. To make a sociocultural comparison of the uses of wuli by native and (non-)heritage Korean speakers, the study collected and analysed the conversation data from (non-)heritage Korean speakers in the USA and Japan. It turns out that native, heritage and non-heritage Korean speakers use the pronoun wuli differently for different discourse-pragmatic functions.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stephen Krashen developed Monitor Theory—a group of hypotheses explaining second language acquisition with implications for language teaching. As the L2 scholarly community began considering what requirements theories should meet, Monitor Theory was widely criticized and dismissed, along with its teaching implications. What happened to these ideas? We argue that many of them have evolved and are still driving SLA research today—often unacknowledged and under new terminology. In this essay, we focus on three of Krashen's five fundamental hypotheses: The Acquisition‐Learning Distinction, The Natural Order Hypothesis, and The Input Hypothesis. We argue that these ideas persist today as the following constructs: implicit versus explicit learning, ordered development, and a central role for communicatively embedded input in all theories of second language acquisition. We conclude with implications for language teaching, including a focus on comprehensible input and communication in the classroom.

Objectives: This study investigates the impact of auditory input, specifically within the Reading While Listening (RWL) framework, on the comprehension of multimodal texts among native Korean speakers (L1) and advanced Korean learners (L2). Additionally, it explores differential reading strategies and the influence of working memory (WM) capacity on the processing of multimodal content.Methods: Eye-tracking technology was utilized to examine the eye movement patterns of 28 participants (14 L1, 14 L2) as they engaged with multimodal texts consisting of written, visual, and auditory components. Key metrics— including dwell time, fixation count, and saccadic movements—were analyzed to gain insights into the cognitive processing behaviors of both groups. Furthermore, WM capacity was assessed to determine its effect on the adoption of specific reading strategies. Results: The findings revealed that both L1 and L2 learners predominantly focused on textual rather than visual information, with L2 participants exhibiting significantly higher fixation counts and longer fixation durations, indicative of elevated cognitive load. In terms of strategy use, L2 learners relied more on localized, compensatory strategies (e.g., keywordtriggered switching), whereas L1 participants more frequently employed integrative strategies such as content integration reading. Conclusion: The results suggest that while auditory input in RWL contexts can facilitate multimodal comprehension, it does not fully alleviate the heightened cognitive demands observed among L2 learners. Instructional approaches aiming to address these challenges may benefit from incorporating explicit strategy training and considering learners’ WM capacity to optimize multimodal reading outcomes.

A key index to learners’ proficiency level of a second language, the comprehension speed of sentences, is a pivotal factor that determines the choice of teaching method which may suit the second language learners in their learning of specialty courses. From the representation of inner knowledge of a second language and the character of its process, some researchers describe a quickening tendency of second language process speed during the acquisition of the language. With respect to the reason why the change of process speed occurs, however, researchers have not explained the difference between a learner’s mother tongue and second language, which may be important in practice. This study explores increasing speed of foreign students’ comprehension of Chinese sentences from the perspective of inhibition of processing.In this experiment, there are four groups of subjects, twenty in each and all paid for their participation. Three groups are native English, Japanese and Korean speakers, and the other group is Mandarin Chinese speakers selected as comparison. Ten constructions of Chinese sentences are chosen as the test materials, including three subject-verb-object constructions (zhu dong bin ju), subject-verb-agent construction (shi bin ju), two topic-comment constructions, two ba constructions, bei construction, and bei-ba compound construction. The six native Mandarin Chinese speakers, who do not actually participate in the experiment, score all the sentences in the experiment in terms of grammaticality. All the sentences, which are programmed, are presented one by one at random on the screen of a Pentium IV laptop, each followed by three possible answers about the actor of the action described in the sentence. The subjects should choose one answer among the three as accurately and quickly as possible by pressing a certain key on the keyboard. There are some sentences for pretesting before the formal experiment. In the formal experiment, reaction time and subject’s answer of each sentence are self-recorded. Reaction time and percent correct for each construction of Chinese sentences is calculated after the experiment. The post hoc multiple comparison tests are performed for the reaction time of each construction of Chinese sentences separately.SPSS analysis shows that: (1) there is a highly significant difference (P≈0.000﹤0.001) between all the groups of foreign students and the native Chinese speakers in the comprehension of all ten constructions of Chinese sentences except one of the topic-comment constructions (zhu ling ju) (P=0.018). (2) there is a significant difference (P﹤0.05) between the native English speakers and the native Japanese or Korean speakers in comprehending seven of the ten constructions of Chinese sentences.Compared the comprehension speed of sentences of foreign students when their Chinese knowledge is at the intermediate level with the primary level, the conclusions of this research are as follows:Firstly, the foreign students require to inhibit less and less inapposite knowledge in comprehending Chinese sentences with their improvement in Chinese knowledge, but they are less skilled than the Chinese students even if their Chinese knowledge is at the intermediate level; there is significant difference between the foreign students and the Chinese students. These results suggest that, even if foreign students’ Chinese ability reaches the intermediate level, they also require a separate organization to study. The effect would not be good if they were put together with native Chinese students to study professional courses.Secondly, when the foreign students are at the intermediate level of Chinese knowledge, their inhibition of inapposite knowledge is also related to their native languages in different typologies; there is significant difference between the students whose native language is English and those whose native languages are Japanese and Korean. But the difference between the two different categories students are diminished when their Chinese knowledge is at the intermediate level. These results suggest that, when the foreign students have a high level of Chinese, they could be organized to teach according to their actual differences, teaching content should be targeted for specific learners. The teacher should strengthen the grammar rules which are difficult for specific learners, increase the frequency of language input and practice.

Drawn on the notion of linguistic entrepreneurship (De Costa, P., Park, J. S., & Wee, L. (2016). Language learning as linguistic entrepreneurship: Implications for language education. Asia-Pacific Education Research, 25(5–6), 695–702, De Costa, P., Park, J. S., & Wee, L. (2019). Linguistic entrepreneurship as affective regime: Organisations, audit culture, and second/foreign language education policy. Language Policy, 18(3), 387–406, De Costa, P., Park, J. S., & Wee, L. (2021). Why linguistic entrepreneurship? Multilingua), this study extends the field of inquiry of neoliberal language learning by exploring Chinese as an international language. Based on a large-scale ethnography of Myanmar university students in China conducted between September 2013 and July 2017, this paper reports on a qualitative inquiry on how the neoliberal discourse permeates Myanmar students’ language exploitation to enhance their worth and maximise their opportunities. Findings show that Chinese learning constitutes the formation of a neoliberal self through the valorisation of multilingual competence. However, the study demonstrates that the enactment of multilingual entrepreneurship only values certain languages, which aligns with the neoliberal logic of convertibility for the China-and-Myanmar communication market. The study also reveals that access to entrepreneurial ambitions through Chinese learning opportunities is largely constrained by citizenship status, socioeconomic conditions, and the fast-evolving demands of linguistic markets within and across national boundaries. The study concludes with some implications for language policy and language education.

This study compared the use of connective endings in the spoken language between foreign spouses (without formal education) and international students (with formal education). Their output was collected, recorded and analyzed. A total of 23,146 words were spoken. A total of 19 connective endings were used 1,859 times, an average of 8.0% in the total usage. The results showed minimal difference compared to connective ending usage by native Korean speakers. The following connective endings of high frequent usage were analyzed: ‘-고 (32.45%), -면 (16.96%), -어서 (16.61%), 는데 (13.31%), -(으)니까 (8.34%).’ The output from the two groups was close to native Korean speakers’ frequency of use. Between the two groups, the foreign spouses group indicated much higher usage of connective endings and their spoken rate, and yielded similar results from their counterpart. However, much of their output was attentive to language form and structure; accurate usage for meaning was compromised. The use of ‘-면’ in particular among foreign spouses was quite high compared to the international students and native Korean speakers. But unlike the native Korean speakers’ understanding of ‘-면’ which is used to show certain condition, foreign spouses employed an extra layer of meaning. They assumed ‘background meaning’ embedded in the “premise” of the antecedent. As such, if the usage patterns of connective endings are similar to that of native speakers and if such speech performance is seen as fluency, then such assumption points to the possibility that fluency is not firmly based on accuracy. In the case of international students, the frequency of ‘-어서’ was quite high. This goes to show that students preferred the use of ‘-어서’ over ‘-니까’ to explain reasons. Furthermore, ‘-어서’ was the preferred connector over ‘-고’ which explains the meaning of the antecedent.

This research aims to determine the understanding ability of aspirated consonants ㅋ (kh), ㅌ (th), ㅍ (ph) of second and third-year Korean language students and whether there are significant differences between each group of participants. The participants in this study included 20 second-year and 20 third-year Korean language students at National University, as well as 20 comparison groups of native Korean speakers. To determine the understanding of these groups, a listening test known as the identification test was administered. The test consisted of 10 sentences in which each sentence contained a word containing the Korean aspirated letters ㅋ (kh), ㅌ (th), and ㅍ (ph). From the results of this test, the average score of native Korean speakers obtained a score of 98, second-year students obtained an average score of 43, and third-year students obtained an average score of 38.5. Then, to find out whether there is a difference between each group, especially the native speakers and Korean language students, ANOVA statistical test was conducted, the test results found that there was a highly significant difference between native Korean speakers and second-year students with a significance value of 0.00 (sig < 0.05), native Korean speakers and third-year students with a significance value of 0.00 (sig < 0.05), and there was no difference between second-year and third-year students with a significance value of 0.612 (sig > 0.05). This means that native speakers of Korean have high consonant understanding, while second and third year students have very low aspirated consonant understanding ability.