Acquisition of English Complex Predicates in SLA

Hyeson Park 한국영어어문교육학회 2006 영어어문교육 Vol.12 No.2

Snyder (2001) proposes that complex predicate constructions are interrelated by shared dependence on a single parameter, the Compounding Parameter, and that the global application of the parameter explains the simultaneous acquisition of the complex predicate constructions and N-N compounds in L1 acquisition of English. Slabakova (2002) examined the status of the Compounding Parameter in the acquisition of L2 Spanish by instructed learners. The result of the study, however, was not compatible with the prediction of the Compounding Parameter, possibly due to the availability of negative evidence in the input. Building upon Slabakova"s study, this paper examines the status of the Compounding Parameter in naturalistic L2 learning. It is shown that the naturalistic L2 learners do not acquire the complex predicate constructions and N-N compounds concurrently contra to the prediction of the Compounding Parameter. It is suggested that the validity of the Compounding Parameter as a theoretical construct be reconsidered.

Existential There-Construction in L2 Written English: Form and Functions

Hyeson Park 언어과학회 2021 언어과학연구 Vol.- No.97

This paper explores the formal and functional aspects of the existential there-construction (ETC) in L2 argumentative writings, focusing on the interaction with L2 proficiency. An analysis of NS and NNS written texts has revealed that the NNS produced the ETC much more frequently than the NS, possibly utilizing it as a hedge marker to render their statements less direct and more tentative. The post-modifiers of the notional subject progressed from clausal to phrasal structures, conforming to the prediction of developmental trajectory of L2 written grammar. The patterns of definiteness and animacy of the notional subject in L2 as compared to L1 texts indicate that the acquisition of subtle semantic and pragmatic features interacting with the ETC is not an easy task and requires a sufficient level of L2 proficiency. Future research with a larger corpus should complement the findings of the current study.

Knowledge of Information Structure in L2 English : Focusing on Dative and Passive Constructions

Hyeson Park,Lan Zhang 한국영어학학회 2005 영어학연구 Vol.- No.20

Information structure as an organizing principle of grammar is acknowledged as part of native speakers' linguistic competence together with their grammatical knowledge (Prince, 1988). This paper investigates the status of information structure in L2 English, focusing on the 'given before new' principle manifested in constructions such as dative alternation and the passive. Two types of data were analyzed: acceptability judgment data and composition data. The result reveals that non-native speakers exhibit a very weak pattern of the 'given before new' order in the dative and passive construction, though they were somewhat in full control of the formal structure of these constructions. This result is consistent with the findings of previous research which noted that the acquisition of information structure of an L2 may be more difficult than the acquisition of formal structure of an L2, possibly due to the probabilistic nature of the rules of information structure.

English Medium Instruction and Content Learning

Hyeson Park 한국영어학학회 2007 영어학연구 Vol.- No.23

  This study examines the effect of English medium instruction (EMI) on content learning in a Korean collegiate context. Data were collected from fifty-one students enrolled in an introductory English linguistics course at a local university. The students’ improvement of subject matter knowledge was measured by pre- and post-tests administered throughout the course. A questionnaire survey addressing issues related to EMI (e.g. students’ attitudes, affective factors etc.) was administered at the end of the semester. The data analysis reveals the following: 1) Statistically significant gains in content area knowledge were observed, the improvement not being strongly related to the students’ level of English proficiency. 2) The students assessed that EMI had a positive effect on improving their reading and listening proficiency, and vocabulary knowledge, while exerting little effect on speaking and writing skills. The result of this study does not seem to be consistent with what has been observed in previous studies, in which EMI was shown to hinder acquisition of content area knowledge (Marsh et al. 2000; Yip et al. 2003). Further research with both control and comparison groups is needed to reach a firm conclusion on the effect of EMI on content learning.

Acquisition of Modality by L2 Learners of Korean

Hyeson Park 현대문법학회 2010 현대문법연구 Vol.60 No.-

This study examines the development of modality in the Interlanguage of Indonesian migrant workers who were learning Korean as an L2 in naturalistic contexts without formal instruction. Data collected from 24 Indonesian workers through semi-structured interviews were analyzed focusing on structures expressing deontic and epistemic modality. The results reveal the following: 1) the L2 learners expressed both deontic and epistemic modality from the early stages of L2 acquisition utilizing such various means as discourse contexts, lexical verbs, and adjectives. 2) the periphrastic modal construction emerged quite late in the Interlanguage, but it still preceded the sentence ending(SE) suffixes in expressing diverse modalities contrary to the pattern found in L1 acquisition. 3) grammaticalization of modality first appeared with deontic modality, with epistemic modality following behind. In the case of a polysemous modal construction, it was the deontic concept that was first developed. Future research is needed to account for the factors behind the developmental order of the modal structures in learner varieties.

Syntax-pragmatics Interface in L2 Learning - The Case of Obligatory Adjuncts in English

Hyeson Park 한국영미어문학회 2008 영미어문학 Vol.- No.87

  This paper examines non-native speakers"knowledge of syntax-pragmatics interface rules, focusing on the obligatory adjunct rule developed by Goldberg and Ackerman (2001). The main argument of their analysis is that the short passive, middle, and cognate object constructions need obligatory adjuncts to satisfy the requirement that each utterance should include information focus to be licit. In order to investigate whether learners of L2 English exhibit the knowledge of information focus in identifying obligatory adjuncts, an acceptability judgment questionnaire consisting of 27 pairs of sentences was constructed based on Goldberg and Ackerman. Forty-eight non-native speakers and 12 native speakers were asked to provide their judgments on the acceptability of these sentences on the Likert scale of 1 (very unnatural) to 4 (very natural). The results are the following: 1) overall the native speakers preferred sentences with an adjunct over those without, with some minor variations depending on the verbs and adjuncts involved. 2) among the non-native speakers, the high level group"s judgments were more or less consistent with what Goldberg and Ackerman predicted, which is attributed to the influence of formal instruction. 3) both the native and non-native speakers exhibited more categorical judgments on the sentences involving the subcategorization restriction than on those involving the obligatory adjunct rule, a result consistent with the findings of previous research in that native speakers" pragmatic knowledge is more variable than their syntactic knowledge, which may lead to a slower development of pragmatic knowledge in L2 learning.

Adverbials in L2 English of Korean Children

Hyeson Park(박혜선) 언어과학회 2016 언어과학연구 Vol.0 No.77

This study explores the acquisition and use of adverbials by child learners of English. Longitudinal data collected from five Korean children learning English in a naturalistic setting were analyzed using a taxonomy of adverbials constructed based on reference grammars. After over 30 months of exposure to English in the US, the children developed competence to utilize various types of adverbials in communication, though the developmental trajectories were not incremental, exhibiting intra-individual variability. Space adverbials were high in both type and token frequency, followed by time and contingency adverbials. Preferred realization types were single-word adverbs and prepositional phrases, which occurred in the sentence final position most frequently. The learners’ L2 proficiency, context of L2 learning, and transfer of L1 linguistic features were identified as factors interacting with the acquisition and use of adverbials.

Why-questions in L2 Acquisition

Park, Hyeson 서울대학교 어학연구소 2003 語學硏究 Vol.39 No.2

It has been observed that children learning English as their L1or L2 apply subject-auxiliary inversion or do insertion (S-Aux inversion) gradually in wh-questions beginning with argumental wh-questions and spreading to adjunct wh-questions. The application of S-Aux inversion was found to appear last in why-questions. This paper attempts to account for the delayed S-Aux inversion in why-questions. The analysis will show that morphological characteristics of why are responsible for the late S-Aux inversion found in developing grammars of English as an L1 and L2.

Modality in Korean Learners’ Spoken Interlanguage

Hyeson Park 한국영어어문교육학회 2012 영어어문교육 Vol.18 No.1

This study examines spoken interlanguage of Korean learners of English, focusing on the distribution of modal verbs and devices of epistemic modality. (Semi-) spontaneous speech data were collected from four students participating in a selforganized study group for seven months, which produced a corpus of about 55,000 words. The data analysis reveals the following: 1) The frequency of the modal verbs produced by the learners was lower than that of native speakers; 1.99 vs. 2.32 tokens per 100 words. The range of the modal verbs used by the learners was also very limited, with over-reliance on can (43%). 2) The grammatical categories of the devices marking epistemic modality were in the order of adverbs, lexical verbs, and modal verbs, with a high frequency of a few items in each category. 3) Lexical items conveying certainty and modals of obligation were preferred over markers of weaker commitment, resulting in speech characterized by firmer assertions and a more authoritative tone, a potential cause for pragmatic failure. 4) A weak developmental change was observed in the frequency of modal verbs, but not in their functions over the seven month period of data collection. L1 influence, L2 proficiency, mode of communication, and instruction effects are discussed as possible variables involved in the distribution patterns observed.

Acquisition of Particles by L2 Learners of Korean

Hyeson Park 현대문법학회 2011 현대문법연구 Vol.64 No.-

This study examines the acquisition order and pattern of Korean particles in the interlanguage of migrant workers who were learning Korean as L2 in naturalistic settings with little exposure to formal instruction. Data collected from 48 Chinese and Indonesian workers through semi-structured interviews were analyzed, and the observed pattern was compared with that of instructed L2 learners reported in Hwang (2002). The results are the following: 1) A strong affinity was shown between the rank order of the particles in the workers' data and the frequency of particles in a native corpus presented in Se and Gu (2005), attesting the crucial role input plays in L2 acquisition. 2) The acquisition pattern of the workers was both similar and different from that of the instructed learners, the difference resulting from 'transfer of training'. 3) L1 influence was evidenced in the fact that the Japanese L1 learners passed through the developmental sequence faster than the other L2 groups.