Doctoral Dissertation Research: Grammatical Constraints on Second Language Processing

本论文将研究第二语言（L2）的真实的时间处理与第一语言（L1）的处理的相似程度。在对母语中复杂结构的真实的时间处理中，说话者利用了他们对复杂语法约束的知识。本研究旨在探讨第二语言中复杂结构的加工是否也受到语法限制，以及第一语言的语法限制是否对第二语言的真实的时间加工产生干扰。 本研究测试熟练匹配的青春期后韩国和西班牙语学习者的英语作为L2关于他们的语法知识的英语复句，作为衡量的语法判断任务。在这些研究中测试的复杂结构是那些疑问词（“填充词”）与句子后面的位置（“空白”）相关联的结构，受语法约束。 由于韩语表现出不同的语法约束相比，西班牙语和英语，测试西班牙语和韩语为母语的英语学习者提供了一个机会，以研究从第一语言对英语的潜在影响更直接。两个眼动实验研究了阅读一个句子的详细时间过程。 通过比较两组二语学习者的实时阅读模式，我们可以了解母语对二语加工的影响程度。研究结果不仅有可能为理论辩论提供信息，也有可能为英语和其他语言作为第二语言的教学方法提供信息。

This dissertation project will investigate the degree to which real time processing of a second language (L2) is similar to the processing of one's first language (L1). In the real time processing of complex structures in L1, speakers exploit their knowledge of sophisticated grammatical constraints. The present project examines whether the processing of complex structures in L2 is also grammatically constrained, and whether the grammatical constraints of L1 play an interfering role in the real time processing of L2. The study tests proficiency-matched post-puberty Korean and Spanish learners of English as L2 regarding their grammatical knowledge of English complex sentences, as measured by a grammaticality judgment task. The complex structures tested in these studies are those where a question word (the "filler") is associated with a position (the "gap") later in the sentence, subject to grammatical constraints. Since Korean exhibits different grammatical constraints as compared to Spanish and English, testing Spanish and Korean-speaking learners of English provides an opportunity to examine the potential influence from the first language on English more directly. Two eye-tracking experiments investigate the detailed time course of reading a sentence. Comparison of the detailed real-time reading patterns in the two groups of second language learners will shed light on the degree of L1 influence on L2 processing, of which we currently have little understanding. The results have the potential to inform not only theoretical debates, but also pedagogical approaches to teaching of English and other languages as L2.