Second Language Research

This article examined the integration of semantic and morphosyntactic information by Korean learners of English as a second language (L2). In Experiment 1, L2 learners listened to English active or passive sentences that were either plausible or implausible and translated them into Korean. A significant number of Korean translations maintained the original passive/active structure, but switched the thematic roles of the actors in the sentences. In Experiment 2, the direction of translation was reversed and participants made very few translation errors, showing that the errors in Experiment 1 were not due to participants’ lack of control over the English passive morphosyntax. The results are strikingly similar to previous results in the first language (L1) psycholinguistics literature, and support a view of L2 processing (like L1 processing) that is ‘good enough’ in nature: misinterpretations arise from only a ‘good enough’ integration of semantic and morphosyntactic information in the input.

This article reports empirical findings from an ongoing investigation into the acquisition of second-language (L2) phonemic contrasts. Specifically, we consider the status and role of the phenomenon of hypercorrection in the various stages through which L2 learners develop and internalize a target language (TL) contrast. We adopt the prevailing view in both sociolinguistics and second language acquisition studies that hypercorrection results from a certain amount of linguistic insecurity on the part of the speaker. Based on 53 Korean speakers’ production of English target phonemes, we conclude that a series of hypercorrection errors may well represent the final stage in the acquisition of a contrast, and further, that in order for hypercorrection to occur, there must be a formal connection between the TL contrast being acquired and the phonological structure of the learner’s native language.

Second language (L2) learners have been found to experience difficulty in tasks that require the integration of discourse–pragmatic properties with syntactic and semantic properties (Sorace and Serratrice, 2009; Tsimpli and Sorace, 2006; Valenzuela, 2006). The present article investigates the sources of L2 difficulty in a phenomenon where multiple components of linguistic analysis are involved. The study examines L1-Korean L2-English adult learners’ interpretation of English sentences with the universally quantified object NP (every NP) and negation using an offline contextualized acceptability judgment task. The results suggest that the sources of L2 variability reflect L2 adults’ focus on content and meaning access and L1 transfer of interpretive preferences in initial to intermediate stages of acquisition but are replaced by the difficulty of integrating L2 pragmatic properties with other aspects of linguistic analysis in the advanced stages, a difficulty which can nevertheless be overcome in ultimate attainment. The study posits pragmatic information to be one of the last considerations for L2 learners when multiple types of information need to be integrated to calculate meaning despite the fact that L2 adults possess mature cognitive mechanisms and pragmatic abilities.

A study was conducted to identify the scope and timing of maturational constraints in three linguistic domains within the same individuals, as well as the potential mediating roles of amount of second language (L2) exposure and language aptitude at different ages in different domains. Participants were 65 Chinese learners of Spanish and 12 native speaker controls. Results for three learner groups defined by age of onset (AO) – 3–6, 7–15, and 16–29 years – confirmed previous findings of windows of opportunity closing first for L2 phonology, then for lexis and collocation and, finally, in the mid-teens, for morphosyntax. All three age functions exhibited the discontinuities in the rate of decline with increasing AO associated with sensitive periods. Significant correlations were found between language aptitude, measured using the LLAMA test (Meara, 2005), and pronunciation scores, and between language aptitude and lexis and collocation scores, in the AO 16–29 group.

Two experiments involving picture classifications investigated priming behavior in the context of wh-movement at clause edge and in indirect object position, respectively. In Experiment 1, intermediate L1-Chinese L2-English learners produced slower classification times (inhibitions) at clause edge, apparently induced by the computation of intermediate traces, whereas faster classification times (facilitations) were detected in native speakers (NSs). In Experiment 2, advanced L1-English L2-French learners produced facilitations apparently induced by the computation of traces in indirect object position. Learners’ priming pattern differed from the priming pattern produced by NSs, however. We argue that the patterns found suggest structural computations interacting with distinct activation modes in the maintenance of discourse referents, plausibly resulting from the automaticity of lexical access, or lack thereof.