Korean L2 Learners Of English Research Articles

L2 interpretation of negative polar questions: Evidence from online experiments

This paper studies Korean L2 English learners’ responses to negative polar questions (NPQs – i.e., negative yes-no questions), focusing on the differences between EFL learners (those learning English as a foreign language in Korea) and ESL learners (those learning English as US residents). The paper first considers differences in the syntax and semantics of Korean and English NPQs, differences that may lead to misinterpretations when questions are translated from one language to the other. The paper then describes a series of experiments comparing Korean EFL and ESL learners’ responses to English polar questions, focusing on measuring participants’ response times (RTs) and unexpected responses (UERs) to distinct classes of these.

Corpus Analysis of L2 English Article Usage Patterns & Pedagogical Implications

There has been plenty of observational evidence displaying that L2 English learners whose L1 do not have article systems undergo persistent difficulties. It is known that functional categories of grammar are especially difficult for L2 learners, and the Korean language does not have a functional equivalent to English articles. The current study aims to investigate article usage patterns by L1 Korean L2 English learners by employing a large English interlanguage corpus data; ICNALE written corpus data. Particularly, the current study focuses on the analysis of a specific NP, “part-time jobs”. The current research claims that by narrowing down the scope of analysis to a particular NP, one can expect more reliable and meaningful interpretation from L2 learners’ authentic language production, which can ultimately lead to more effective language instruction and better outcomes for second language learners. The current study seeks to describe patterns of L2 English articles across different proficiency levels. According to the results, it was found that learners’ article usage patterns appeared to be more similar to that of the native speaker in the group with higher English proficiency. One of the interesting findings was the frequent use of bare nominals even in the most advanced learners. Based on the corpus analysis, the current study provides the pedagogical implication that teaching structural differences between learners’ L1 and L2 is very important and article instruction should be emphasized in L2 classrooms in EFL settings.

Korean English L2ers’ Sensitivity to Information Structure: An ERP Study

This paper examined the event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by information structure among Korean L2 English learners. Participants read a wh-question, followed by an it-cleft answer sentence in English. We hypothesized that L2 proficiency would modulate native-likeness or L2-uniqueness in L2 focus processing. For the L1 and high- and low-proficiency L2 groups, word-long positive shifts reflect the processing of NPs receiving constructional focus, compared to other non-focal phrases in cleft sentences. Second, as for the processing of incorrectly vs. correctly assigned focus, while the L1 group in Cowles et al. (2007) recorded N400, in our experiments the high-proficiency L2 group registered anterior P600, but the low-proficiency L2 group yielded right anterior negativity. This points to a modulatory correlation between L2 proficiency and native-likeness/L2-uniqueness of processing focus assignment in information structure.

The Necessity of Minimal Representation of Genericity in a Newly Developed Language, Unish

The current study compares generic representations in different languages including English and Korean. It reviews important universal concepts of genericity denotation in languages and compares how genericity is realized in different languages. By comparing different genericity representations in different languages, the current study predicts possible acquisition difficulties. It also suggests difficulties of acquiring English article systems are also caused by the complex nature of article uses. Particularly, using a large corpus data (ICNALE), the current study reveals how L1 Korean L2 English learners use articles when they denote generic terms in their essays. Ample uses of bare Noun Phrase (NP) forms tentatively suggest that (i) probably uses of ‘articles’ are not necessarily the most efficient way of expressing genericity, and (ii) it can be marked by other grammatical functions, which are more simple and regular. Therefore, the current research argues that NP systems should be simplified and minimally represented in a newly developed language, which by nature will be learners’ extra language. In the current research, generic NPs in Unish language is introduced and it suggests that bare noun forms in Unish can denote genericity in a very regular and economical manner. Therefore, it may be easier for leaners to acquire because the configuration process is minimized in the Unish.

어휘접근 과정에서 나타나는 한국인 L2 학습자의 이중언어 음운적 동시활성화 양상

This study explored the likelihood of cross-language co-activation among Korean L2 learners of English when performing a monolingual phoneme monitoring task. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA: -2,000ms, +200ms, +400ms) between picture and target phoneme stimuli were manipulated. Results demonstrated that participants responded faster and showed lower error rates when performing the task in L1 compared to L2. Moreover, interference effects were observed in all three SOA-manipulated experiments irrelevant to the language type, which shows the presence of phonological co-activation of the language not- in-use during monolingual task. Stronger L1 interference effect was shown during L2 task, which reflects the difference in the degree of bilingual phonological co-activation. This study suggests that when given a short period of time to access the semantic system which is shared by two languages, phonological information of both languages are co-activated even for non-proficient L2 learners whose languages have different scripts.

The Speech Act of Complaint by Korean L2 Learners of English in an Intercultural Perspective

The Speech Act of Complaint by Korean L2 Learners of English in an Intercultural Perspective

The effects of speaker accent on syntactic priming in second-language speakers

Syntactic priming studies in second language (L2) have contributed to understanding how L2 speakers’ syntactic knowledge is represented and processed. However, little is known about social influences on L2 speakers’ syntactic processing and learning. The present study investigated whether L2 speakers’ syntactic priming is influenced by social factors, specifically different accents of English speakers and their familiarity with those accents. Korean L2 learners of English with intermediate proficiency were asked to describe pictures depicting ditransitive events after listening to sentences recorded by three English speakers with different accents: a standard-accented speaker (an American English speaker), and two speakers with non-standard accents (a Korean English speaker and an Indian English speaker). The results of the picture description task showed that syntactic priming effects in Korean L2 English speakers were significantly influenced by speaker accents and their familiarity with the accents. In addition, their priming patterns and interactions with these factors changed over time. These results suggest that syntactic priming in L2 speakers is socially mediated. We propose that priming effects in real language use can be better accounted for using a combination of cognitive and sociolinguistic models of syntactic priming and speech production.

Interlanguage Study on the Apology Speech Act by Korean L2 Learners of English

Interlanguage Study on the Apology Speech Act by Korean L2 Learners of English

Effects of NP Type on L2 Processing of Relative Clauses

This study presents the results of an online experiment with Korean L2 learners of English reading subject and object relative clauses (SRCs, ORCs). In particular, it aims to explore the effects of NP type on L2 RC processing by manipulating the kind of nominals inside RCs: lexical NP and pronoun. Reading time (RT) results and offline comprehension accuracy from sixty-six Korean L2 learners of English and fifteen native English speakers reveal a clear pronoun advantage for the ORC for both L1 adults and L2 learners. These findings suggest that L2 learners, like native English speakers, are sensitive to discourse accessibility of referents in processing long-distance dependencies.

A Pragmatic Transfer in the Speech Act of Congratulations by Korean L2 Learners’ English

This study investigated pragmatic transfer in the speech act of congratulations realized by Korean L2 learners of English, Taking a cross-cultural pragmatic approach, the study compared the speech act of congratulations as realized by Korean L2 learners of English with that of English native speakers. For the purpose, 111 participants were asked to take part in the study, who were divided into four groups: a group of native English speakers and three groups of Korean L2 learners with different proficiency levels. The data consisted of responses to twelve situations of written discourse completion test to elicit the speech act of congratulations. The responses were coded using the taxonomy of congratulations proposed by Elwood (2004). The results showed the presence of negative pragmatic transfer in the use of strategies to realize congratulation speech act. Findings indicated the cultural influence on the use of congratulation strategies by Korean L2 learners of English. Possible explanation for the results and educational implications are provided within Korean context. (Kongju National University)

Effects of L1 on the voicing of intervocalic voiceless stops and its relation with L2 proficiency

This study investigates the correlation between the proficiency of L2 learners of English and the degree of L1 Korean intervocalic voicing rule transfer on the English intervocalic voiceless stop production by Korean English learners. Korean has a phonological rule that voiceless stops become voiced between vowels (Korean intervocalic voicing rule) but this rule does not apply in English. The aforementioned difference between the phonological rule of the two languages makes it possible to predict that Korean learners with lower L2 proficiency might produce English intervocalic voiceless stops with higher degree of voicing than the learners with higher L2 proficiency. The speech data of Korean L2 learners of English is extracted from GenieSpeeCor, rated and categorized English speech corpus of Korean L2 learners of English production, and the value of intensity drop and closure duration were used as acoustic cues for voicing difference. Alveolar stop is excluded from the data analysis because the flapped /t/ sound is difficult to distinguish from the voiced sound. As a result of the current study, when it comes to the closure duration as an acoustic cue, there was no meaningful statistical relation between learners' L2 proficiency and the degree of intervocalic stops voicing. However, in terms of the intensity drop learners with the highest L2 proficiency showed a lower degree of voicing than the learners with middle and lowest proficiency.This study investigates the correlation between the proficiency of L2 learners of English and the degree of L1 Korean intervocalic voicing rule transfer on the English intervocalic voiceless stop production by Korean English learners. Korean has a phonological rule that voiceless stops become voiced between vowels (Korean intervocalic voicing rule) but this rule does not apply in English. The aforementioned difference between the phonological rule of the two languages makes it possible to predict that Korean learners with lower L2 proficiency might produce English intervocalic voiceless stops with higher degree of voicing than the learners with higher L2 proficiency. The speech data of Korean L2 learners of English is extracted from GenieSpeeCor, rated and categorized English speech corpus of Korean L2 learners of English production, and the value of intensity drop and closure duration were used as acoustic cues for voicing difference. Alveolar stop is excluded from the data analysis because the flapped /...

한국인 영어 학습자의 총칭 정관사와 유일 정관사 습득 양상

This study examines English generic expressions in L2 acquisition by looking at whether Korean L2 English learners can distinguish between definite generic the and definite unique the. Definite generic can refer to more than one individual thing when it is accompanied by a predicate like be extinct. Definite Unique is when the definite article refers to one individual thing not generic things. Seventy Korean students and twelve native English speakers participated in this study. The TOEIC scores of Korean learners of English in the experiment were divided into the advanced and the beginner. We employed a picture matching task(PMT) and a forced-choice elicitation task(FCET). PMT and FCET were implemented to both native English speakers and Korean English learners. The results of this study showed that Korean L2 learners could not perform on the PMT for definite generic the, but the FCET results revealed differences between the three groups(control, advanced and beginner). In addition, this study showed that education on definite generic the in English education is necessary by showing the perception of Korean learners for definite generic the and definite unique the.

Use of Expressions of Suggestion and Advice by Korean L2 Learners of English

The Journal of Studies in Language 35.1, 097-108. Taking a socio-pragmatic approach, the current study explored the production of speech acts of suggestion and advice in English as L2 context. Specifically, the study investigated how Korean learners of English expressed suggestion and advice in terms of strategy use. The study compared the two speech acts realized by Korean L2 learners and native English speakers. The participants encompassed 49 Korean university students and 20 native English speakers. The data consisted of responses to eight situations of written discourse completion test per participant to elicit advice and suggestion speech acts. The responses were coded using 9 categories for advice and 10 categories for suggestion to determine the strategies adopted, and then were analyzed according to the frequency of the choice of strategies for each speech act. Findings revealed that Korean L2 learners of English were not well-balanced in the selection of strategies between making suggestions and giving advice, and linguistic formulae selected to realize certain strategies. (Konju National University)

Use of Expressions of Suggestion and Advice by Korean L2 Learners of English

The Journal of Studies in Language 35.1, 097-108. Taking a socio-pragmatic approach, the current study explored the production of speech acts of suggestion and advice in English as L2 context. Specifically, the study investigated how Korean learners of English expressed suggestion and advice in terms of strategy use. The study compared the two speech acts realized by Korean L2 learners and native English speakers. The participants encompassed 49 Korean university students and 20 native English speakers. The data consisted of responses to eight situations of written discourse completion test per participant to elicit advice and suggestion speech acts. The responses were coded using 9 categories for advice and 10 categories for suggestion to determine the strategies adopted, and then were analyzed according to the frequency of the choice of strategies for each speech act. Findings revealed that Korean L2 learners of English were not well-balanced in the selection of strategies between making suggestions and giving advice, and linguistic formulae selected to realize certain strategies. (Konju National University)

The Speech Act of Offering Advice in Learner English in Korean Context

Taking a cross-cultural pragmatic approach, this paper compared the speech act of offering advice as realized by Korean L2 learners of English with that of English native speakers. The study investigated pragmatic transfer from L1 Korean while offering advice in L2 English. The study also aimed to examine whether Korean L2 learners’ perception of directness vs. indirectness in the realization of offering advice differs depending on their proficiency. The findings showed that Korean L2 learners of English were not as balanced as native English speakers in the use of indirect strategies of offering advice. The results also revealed that both Korean L2 learners and native English speakers are inclined to use similar strategies for the realization of offering advice. Findings call for further research on pragmatic transfer of the varied English proficiency level and considering appropriate pragmatic teaching methods.

Variation among E-S and E-O Psych Verbs in Korean L2 Learners’ Linking Problems

This study investigates Korean L2 learners’ linking problems in the acquisition of English psychological verbs (henceforth, psych verbs). Specifically, it attempts to show that each of the two classes of English psych verbs, E-S (Experiencer-Subject) and E-O (Experiencer-Object) psych verbs, is not homogeneous but can be further divided into two subclasses-Agentive and Non-agentive verbs, and these subclasses of E-S and E-O verbs are not equally susceptible to linking errors. In order to show this, the present study conducted two kinds of experiments on Korean L2 learners of English. The results of the acceptability judgment test suggest that Korean learners are able to make a distinction within E-S and E-O class, treating each class as heterogeneous class composed of Agentive and Non-agentive verbs. The results of argument structure test show that a substantial discrepancy was observed among E-S and E-O verbs in terms of accuracy rates; in both classes, the learners show higher accuracy rates on Agentive verbs than Non-agentive verbs. The findings from this study suggest that, both in E-S and E-O class, Non-agentive verbs would cause more linking problems than Agentive verbs would. Based on this result, the present study proposes that Korean L2 learners’ linking problems are not just caused by general linking rule or L1 morphology, as the previous studies have argued, but also caused by verb’s agentivity.

Spatial trajectories of North Korean L2 English learners: transformed attitudes towards English across spaces

ABSTRACTAn increasing number of North Koreans have migrated to other countries in the past two decades, with South Korea receiving a significant number of these escapees each year. Research examining young North Koreans’ adjustment to South Korean schools has reported that these students struggle with mandatory English classes and the prevalent use of English in the school system, often positioning themselves as peripheral in their new contexts. Additionally, existing research on North Korean students has mostly depicted this population as a group, often in comparison to South Korean students, rather than treating them as individual learners. The present study targeting four North Korean defectors traces how the participants value and scale English language practices across different spaces and how each individual navigates the English language as an adaptation tool in their new space. The results show that individual learners’ attitudes towards learning English are markedly different, which are complicated by their perceptions of their prior English learning experience in their home country and of the instrumentality of English in neoliberal contexts.

한국인 영어 학습자의 중의성 해소 과정에서의 반응시간 분석 연구-의미 정보와 운율 단서의역할-

한국인 영어 학습자의 중의성 해소 과정에서의 반응시간 분석 연구-의미 정보와 운율 단서의역할-

Semantic Processing of Scope Ambiguity by Korean L2 Learners of English

Semantic Processing of Scope Ambiguity by Korean L2 Learners of English

A Comparative Study of Native and Non-native Speakers’ Use of Verb Subcategorization Information in Written English Production

The present study investigated how Korean L2 learners of English used their knowledge of verb subcategorization information in written production....