Double Construction of Korean Subject Case-markers
Hyu-Yong Park · 응용언어학 · 2008
This paper investigates how Korean as Foreign Language (KFL) learners learn the Double-subject Construction (DC) of the Subject Case-markers (SCs) in Korean differently according to their mother tongue, and examines whether it is governed by the [+null subject] parameter in Universal Grammar (Chomsky, 1981). As a literature review, this paper discusses DC of Korean in its subject case-marking rules, and investigates on three hypotheses regarding the DC of Korean SCs. Based on this discussion, this paper explores the probability of connection between the DC and [+null subject] feature in the theoretical frame of second language acquisition. By adopting sample sentences with Korean SCs ‘-nun’ and ‘-ka,’ this paper investigates how KFL learners perceive the grammaticality of DC differently, comparing four groups of students: Korean native speakers (n= 42) as a control group and Japanese (n= 25), Spanish (n=16), and English (n=18) KFL learners as test groups. Input Processing instructions (VanPatten, 2002; Toth, 2006) are conducted for the three test groups, and the results are compared to those of Korean speakers. This study finds that Japanese students show the most similar responses to Korean students, which means that Japanese speakers are more capable of dealing with the Korean SCs than the Spanish and English speakers. This result also signifies the possible connection between the DC of Korean (and Japanese) SCs and the [+NS] and [?sentence-oriented] features, than [+discourseoriented]. Lastly, the implication of this study is discussed in terms of second language acquisition theories.