Sensitivity to Argument-Structure Asymmetries in Sluicing: Evidence from Korean Learners of English

초록

This study investigates how L1-Korean learners of English interpret sluicing in English ditransitive constructions, with a focus on double-object constructions (DOCs) and prepositional dative constructions (PDCs). Sluicing provides a useful testing ground for examining learners’ sensitivity to abstract argument-structure constraints, particularly when critical elements such as direct objects or prepositions are not overtly realized. Using an acceptability judgment task, we compared the responses of L1-Korean learners to those of native English speakers across grammatical and ungrammatical sluicing conditions, and we further examined whether learners’ proficiency modulated their sensitivity to these constraints. The results revealed clear group differences. Native English speakers showed strong and categorical sensitivity to structural licensing constraints, assigning significantly higher ratings to grammatical sluices than to ungrammatical ones in both DOC and PDC conditions. In contrast, L1-Korean learners demonstrated significantly weaker and less consistent distinctions. While ungrammatical sentences were generally rated lower, learners’ judgments often remained in a mid-range and varied across conditions, particularly in cases involving implicit arguments. Moreover, proficiency did not significantly enhance learners’ ability to distinguish grammatical from ungrammatical structures. Importantly, the observed pattern cannot be explained by straightforward L1 transfer. If Korean-style argument omission had been transferred, uniformly permissive judgments for implicit structures would be expected. Instead, the learners’ responses reflected neither a consistent L1-based strategy nor target-like structural sensitivity. These findings suggest that L2 learners rely more on surface patterns and semantic plausibility than on fully specified syntactic representations, providing further support for accounts of “shallow” processing in second language comprehension. © 2026 KASELL All rights reserved.

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