This dissertation project will investigate the degree to which real time processing of a second language (L2) is similar to the processing of one's first language (L1). In the real time processing of complex structures in L1, speakers exploit their knowledge of sophisticated grammatical constraints. The present project examines whether the processing of complex structures in L2 is also grammatically constrained, and whether the grammatical constraints of L1 play an interfering role in the real time processing of L2.
The study tests proficiency-matched post-puberty Korean and Spanish learners of English as L2 regarding their grammatical knowledge of English complex sentences, as measured by a grammaticality judgment task. The complex structures tested in these studies are those where a question word (the "filler") is associated with a position (the "gap") later in the sentence, subject to grammatical constraints. Since Korean exhibits different grammatical constraints as compared to Spanish and English, testing Spanish and Korean-speaking learners of English provides an opportunity to examine the potential influence from the first language on English more directly. Two eye-tracking experiments investigate the detailed time course of reading a sentence.
Comparison of the detailed real-time reading patterns in the two groups of second language learners will shed light on the degree of L1 influence on L2 processing, of which we currently have little understanding. The results have the potential to inform not only theoretical debates, but also pedagogical approaches to teaching of English and other languages as L2.
One of the long-standing issues in second language acquisition research is whether learning a second language past a certain period (‘the Critical Period’ – roughly before puberty ends) impedes grammar acquisition. Some argue that exposure to a second language must occur during the Critical Period in order for the learner to achieve native-like competence in the second language grammar. Others maintain the view that those who learn the second language past the Critical Period can in principle learn and use the second language grammar in a native-like way, given sufficient exposure to the language. The primary goal of this dissertation research is to contribute to this theoretical issue, focusing on the way second language learners of English use certain grammars that constrain English wh-question formation. In English wh-questions, the wh-phrase moves from its original position (for example, in ‘Which student must you call ___?’, ‘which student’ is not in its original position (‘___’), but is placed in the sentence-initial position). There are however some restrictions on the movement of the wh-phrase. One such restriction is that the wh-phrase cannot be extracted out of a complex noun phrase. For example, the sentence ‘Which student must you call the teacher who punished ___?’ is not grammatical, because the wh-phrase (‘which student’) has been moved from a complex noun phrase that includes a modifier (‘the teacher who punished ___’). Such rules are abstract and complex, and are not taught in English classrooms. However, previous research has shown that native speakers of English have intuitions on the rules, and can use this grammatical knowledge rapidly in real time sentence comprehension (that is, when native English speakers read ‘Which student must you call the teacher who punished ___?’, they do not think that ‘which student’ is the object of ‘punished’). The main issue explored in this dissertation is whether those who began to learn English as a second language past puberty are able to learn this complex set of rules and use it in real time comprehension. A series of experiments were conducted to examine issue. The second language learner participants were those whose native language is Korean and who had been living in the US at the time of testing. They arrived in the US after puberty, meaning that they had not lived in an English-speaking environment before puberty. All participants had advanced English proficiency. Native English speakers also participated in the experiments so that we can compare the learners’ results with the native speakers’ results. The experiments used the materials that were carefully designed to investigate whether participants can apply the grammatical rules explained above when comprehending English wh-questions. Psycholinguistic research equipment and techniques were used to examine how fast the participants can apply the rules. The experiments revealed that second language learners can use the grammatical rules when comprehending English wh-questions, even though they did not learn those complex set of rules in classrooms. However, the learners were overall slower than native speakers in applying the rules. The findings provide evidence against the view that post-puberty second language learners end up learning and processing the second language grammar in a qualitatively different fashion from native speakers. The apparent differences between native speakers and advanced post-puberty second language learners appear to be quantitative in nature, mainly lying in processing speed or efficiency.
