Resetting parameters in Chinese speakers’ acquisition of Korean wh-phrase with [±Q] feature

This study investigated whether Chinese speakers can acquire features associated with the embedded wh-phrase in Korean. Researchers have made different predictions regarding L2 parameter resetting. Some approaches claim that L1 parameter values can be successfully reset to L2-specific values, wherea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLinguistic research Vol. 38; no. 스페셜; pp. 53 - 75
Main Authors Sun Hee Park, Jin Jeong, Hyunwoo Kim
Format Journal Article
LanguageKorean
Published 경희대학교 언어정보연구소 30.09.2021
Institute for the Study of Language and Information
Subjects
acceptability judgment
Chinese speakers
Korean wh-phrase
parameter resetting
acceptability judgment
parameter resetting
Chinese speakers
Korean wh-phrase
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN1229-1374

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Summary:This study investigated whether Chinese speakers can acquire features associated with the embedded wh-phrase in Korean. Researchers have made different predictions regarding L2 parameter resetting. Some approaches claim that L1 parameter values can be successfully reset to L2-specific values, whereas others predict consistent difficulty in L2 parameter resetting. Our analyses of an acceptability judgment task showed that despite the lack of relevant information in their L1, Chinese-speaking learners of Korean had target-like knowledge of the morphological constraints associated with the features that license wh-phrases in Korean embedded clauses. We also found that learner performance was modulated by their Korean proficiency. These findings align with the view that parameter resetting is possible in L2 acquisition insofar as L2 proficiency is sufficiently high. (Ewha Womans University · The University of Hong Kong · Yonsei University)
Bibliography:Institute for the Study of Language and Information
ISSN:1229-1374