L1 Transfer in L2 Relative Clause Attachment

• 발행기관: 한국영어학학회
• 저자명: Ji Hyon Kim
• 간행물 정보: 『영어학연구』영어학연구 제16권 3호, 115~134쪽, 전체 20쪽
• 주제분류: 어문학 > 영어와문학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2010.04.03

영문 초록

The present study investigates an effect of L1 transfer in L2 comprehension through an off-line experiment examining how Korean L2 learners of English interpret ambiguous sentences containing relative clauses. Results from the experiment show that while English is known to be a low attachment (LA) language (Cuetos & Mitchell 1988; Carreiras & Clifton 1999), the group of Korean L2 learners showed a strong high attachment (HA) preference, suggesting that the relative clause (RC) attachment of the L1, Korean, was transferred to the L2. Although there was a slight tendency toward a positive correlation between L2 proficiency and L2 relative clause attachment preference, the correlation only neared significance. I suggest that although L2 proficiency may be a factor that affects the interpretation of the ambiguous relative clause construction, the effects of L1 transfer are strong enough to override this factor.

목차

1. Introduction

2. The Present Study

3. General Discussion

4. Conclusion

키워드

L1 transfer relative clause attachment ambiguity resolution L2 proficiency