Animacy Effect and Language Specificity: Judgment of Unaccusative Verbs by Korean Learners of English as a Foreign Language

This study investigated the tendency of overpassivization of unaccusative verbs by Korean learners of English as a foreign language (FL). Sixty Korean native college students participated in the study, along with 17 English-speaking counterparts serving as a comparison group. Consistent with the fin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psycholinguistic research 2014-04, Vol.43 (2), p.187-207
Main Authors: Pae, Hye K., Schanding, Brian, Kwon, Yeon-Jin, Lee, Yong-Won
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
College Students
Cross-Sectional Studies
English
English (Second Language)
English as a second language
English Language Learners
Foreign language learning
Humans
Hypotheses
Judgment - physiology
Korean
Language
Language Acquisition
Language Research
Learning - physiology
Linguistic Input
Multilingualism
Native Language
Nouns
Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics - methods
Psychology
Reaction Time
Role
Second Language Learning
Second Languages
Semantics
Semiotics
Syntax
Verbs
Young Adult
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Summary:This study investigated the tendency of overpassivization of unaccusative verbs by Korean learners of English as a foreign language (FL). Sixty Korean native college students participated in the study, along with 17 English-speaking counterparts serving as a comparison group. Consistent with the findings of previous research, this study found Korean students’ tendency to incorrectly accept passive-voice with inanimate subjects. The results of this study highlighted the role of lexical animacy, the hierarchy of agentivity, and language-specific effects on FL judgment. The findings of this study suggest a robust language-specific L1 effect on L2 acquisition and a greater involvement of cognition in FL use than language input.
ISSN:0090-6905
1573-6555
DOI:10.1007/s10936-013-9246-6