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Dominant language influence in acquisition and attrition of binding: Interpretation of the Korean reflexive caki

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2009

JI-HYE KIM*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
SILVINA MONTRUL
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
JAMES YOON*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
*
Address for correspondence: Ji-Hye Kim & James Yoon, 4080 FLB, MC-168, Department of Linguistics, 707 S Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USAjyoon@uiuc.edu
Address for correspondence: Ji-Hye Kim & James Yoon, 4080 FLB, MC-168, Department of Linguistics, 707 S Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USAjyoon@uiuc.edu

Abstract

This study investigates how the dominant language of Korean heritage speakers (English) influences Korean (minority language) in the domain of binding interpretations by comparing the performance of Korean immigrants in English dominant context with that of incomplete learners of Korean and L2 learners of Korean. Four groups (10 Korean immigrants, 17 simultaneous bilinguals, 14 late L2 learners, and 30 Korean native speakers) were tested. Differences between English and Korean in Governing Category and structural constraints were tested through a Truth Value Judgment Task with stories. Overall results showed that Korean immigrants (attriters) did not differ from Korean controls, while simultaneous bilinguals (incomplete learners) and late L2 learners of Korean showed behavior different from Korean control when two languages were different in their binding properties.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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