Doctoral Dissertation Research: Information Structure and Dative Word-Order Alternations in English and Korean: L1 Children, L2 Children, and L2 Adults

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this dissertation research is to investigate effects of information structure on word-order alternations as language develops, in both first language (L1) and second language (L2). Previous research has shown that adult native speakers tend to place given/old information before new information; this is called the "Given-before-New" principle. For example, in a situation where "the pie" is the topic of discussion, adult speakers are more likely to say "Sandy brought the pie to some friends" than "Sandy brought some friends the pie." In L1 acquisition, some researchers have suggested that young children fail to comply with the Given-before-New principle because they are unable to distinguish what they know/believe from what others know/believe. This account, called the Theory of Mind (ToM) account, has not been tested experimentally. This dissertation project will investigate, for both English and Korean, whether children who show sensitivity to what others know/believe also obey the Given-before-New principle. In addition, this project will investigate, in both Korean-speaking learners of English and English-speaking learners of Korean, whether knowledge of the Given-before-New principle automatically transfers from L1 to L2. Data will be collected via: (i) a novel "Oral Contextualized Preference task," in which participants listen to pairs of sentences following stories and choose their preference; (ii) an Oral Acceptability-Judgment task, in which participants listen to short dialogues between two characters and decide the acceptability of test sentences; (iii) a False-Belief task to assess children's mastery of ToM; and (iv) a Picture-Description task to measure L2 proficiency. This is the first bidirectional study on word-order preference in association with information status, across different age groups using the same innovative methods, in both L1 and L2. It is also the first experimental study of the Given-before-New principle in Korean. The results should therefore be of immediate interest to scholars of English and Korean, language development, and language pedagogy. Another impact is the potential to extend a new experimental paradigm to other language domains. The project will enhance the infrastructure for international research, and will provide the student co-PI with extensive training in many aspects of language research.