Second Language Processing of Korean Floating Numeral Quantifiers

Abstract

This study investigated whether Chinese-Korean bilinguals can use structure-based information to interpret Korean sentences containing floating numeral quantifiers during online processing. A numeral quantifier in Korean can be stranded from its modified noun through scrambling as long as the quantifier forms a constituent with the noun. For Chinese-Korean bilinguals, acquiring this structural knowledge gives rise to a learnability problem because this ability cannot be derived from the L1, not easily induced from Korean input and is not obtained through classroom instruction. In acceptability judgment, highly proficient Chinese-Korean bilinguals demonstrated target-like knowledge of this structural constraint. Results from a self-paced reading task showed that the bilinguals showed sensitivity to the violation of the mismatch between an NQ and its modified NP, both in local and non-local dependency conditions. Our findings suggest that structure-based processing is possible for highly proficient bilinguals even when the target structure is not instantiated in bilinguals' L1.

Feature Matching Does Not Equal Convergence: Acquisition of L2 French Accusative Pronouns by L1 Spanish Speakers

“…Then, because RTs were positively skewed (typical of RTs elicited with this type of task), we log-transformed the residuals. This procedure has been used successfully in previous psycholinguistic investigations (e.g., Kim 2018). We then analyzed these length-adjusted log-transformed RTs (henceforth logRTs) using mixed models for each group (L1 vs. L2), based on the reasoning offered earlier.…”

Constructional Processing in a Second Language: The Role of Constructional Knowledge in Verb‐Construction Integration

“…Overall, our findings shed light on the literature focusing on L2 sentence processing by showing that L2 learners’ access and retrieval of constructional information may play a crucial role in sentence processing. Previous studies have identified several contributors to L2 sentence processing, such as L2 proficiency (e.g., Kim, ; Omaki & Schulz, ), working memory (e.g., Hopp, ), language learning experience (e.g., Pliatsikas & Marinis, ), similarities between L1 and L2 (e.g., Tokowicz & MacWhinney, ), and learners’ limited ability to use morphosyntactic information (e.g., Clahsen & Felser, ; Jiang, ). In addition to these factors, our results suggest that the degree to which a learner accesses constructional representations modulates L2 processing of target constructions.…”

Crosslinguistic influence in bilingual morphosyntactic processing: Effects of language-common, language-contrasting, and language-specific information

“…In both the canonical and scrambled conditions, the use of an honorific-marked NQ (e.g., sey-pwun) is infelicitous because it consistently modifies an NP lacking honorific status (e.g., haksayng 'student'). Previous studies on L1 processing have demonstrated that Korean and Japanese native speakers exhibit sensitivity to NQ-NP agreement in canonical and scrambled word orders during online processing (e.g., H. Kim, 2018;Suzuki & Yoshinaga, 2013). However, little is known about how different types of crosslinguistic influence, as triggered by the target construction, affect L2 learners' sensitivity to honorific NQ-NP agreement.…”