Identification of Focus Information with Contextual and Lexical Cues by Korean Learners of English: Evidence from Reaction Times Analyzed by Linear Mixed-Effect Models

Abstract

The current study examined the interaction between contextual and lexical focus cues in sentence processing of the identification of focus information in double object construction by Korean Learners of English. The study conducted three self-paced reaction time experiments and the results were analyzed by linear mixed-effects models (LMM). We found Korean speakers preferred the context specifying focus on direct object when processing interrogative contexts specifying focus on either the indirect or direct object in double object constructions. We also found that unlike English speakers, Korean speakers had difficulty in processing the elliptical remnant, cued by lexical focus. We suggest that the processing difficulty might be ascribed to Korean speakers’ insensitivity to the effect of relative positions of lexical focus cues.