High vs. low negation in English NPQs: How Korean EFL and ESL learners diverge

• 발행기관: 경희대학교 언어정보연구소
• 저자명: Keunhyung Park
• 간행물 정보: 『언어연구』제42권 Special Edition, 291~316쪽, 전체 26쪽
• 주제분류: 인문학 > 언어학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2025.09.30

국문 초록

This studyinvestigates how Korean learners of English interpret positive polar questions (PPQs)and the two structurally distinct negative polar questions (NPQs). Thirty classroom‑basedEFL learners in Korea and sixty immersion‑based ESL learners in the United Statescompleted a series of three online experiment. Each task paired an unambiguous visualprompt with either a PPQ, a high‑negation NPQ (Didn’t you see…?), or a low‑negationNPQ (Did you really not see…?). Response times and answering patterns reveal a cleardissociation. Immersive exposure yields near‑native performance on the high‑negationNPQs, yet both learner groups—most strikingly the higher‑proficiency ESL cohort—show severe difficulty with low‑negation NPQs, producing up to 74 % unexpectedanswers and significantly slower responses. These results challenge the traditional“polarity‑ vs. truth‑based” dichotomy, demonstrating that acquisition hinges on inputfrequency and explicit form-meaning mapping rather than overall proficiency. Pedagogically, targeted instruction on inner‑VP negation is recommended.

목차

1. Introduction

2. English and Korean PPQs and NPQs

3. Literature review and critique

4. Current study

5. Results

6. Discussion

7. Conclusion

References

키워드

L2 English L1 Korean L2 acquisition EFL ESL negative polar question

참고문헌

• Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
• Developmental Psychology
• Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
• Studies in Chinese Linguistics
• Semantics and Pragmatics
• Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung
• Glossa
• Lingua
• Oxford
• Second Language Research
• Linguistics and Philosophy
• American Anthropologist
• Korean Journal of Linguistics
• Studia Linguistica
• Lingua
• Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America
• Applied Linguistics
• Linguistics and Philosophy
• McGill Working Papers in Linguistics
• Language Research