The Effect of Output Practice on the Automatization of Korean Morphosynatctic Rules
Jin-Suk Byun
UIUC Linguistics
4PM, Thursday, April 27
Lucy Ellis Lounge, FLB
Learning a second language may involve acquiring skill knowledge as well as underlying linguistic knowledge. One type of skill knowledge, automaticity, has been characterized by power law of practice, skill-specificity, and load independence, and has been operationalized as a decrease in reaction time, error rate, and interference from simultaneous tasks (DeKeyser, 1997, 2001). However, there have been relatively few studies on automaticity in SLA, especially on the acquisition of morphosyntactic rules. The present study explored the effect of input and output practice on the automatization of three Korean morphosyntactic rules: word order (SOV), case-marking for nominative (-ka) and accusative (-reul), and classifier construction. Twenty-eight native speakers of English were assigned into input and output group to carry out 15 learning, practice, and test sessions over a 5-week period. Their performance was analyzed in terms of reaction time, length of time of speech, and error rate in a dual-task condition. Within group analysis of the practice and test data was carried out to determine whether automatization occurred. Between group analysis of test data was carried out to determine whether automatization was skill-specific in production and comprehension. The results of the study will be discussed in relation to their theoretical and pedagogical implications.