On the acquisition and use of the English Comp system by Korean learners of English: A case study focused on interrogation

Abstract

Observing an English/ Korean difference in the fusionality parameter of their complementizers (Comp), this paper examines whether the acquisition of the English Comp system by Korean learners shows any evidence for resetting the fusionality parameter, and if positive what stages it occurs at in models of syntactic development of wh-questions and in what ways the learners use the inter-English Comps. It then shows that data produced naturally by college-level learners support at least some of them undergoing such parameter resetting, which is understood to constitute the empirical basis for the Comp Fusion Hypothesis. Further, it also shows that the Comp fusion data are compatible with multiple stages in the syntactic development of wh-questions, and that their use is quite restricted to a limited set of matrix verbs like wonder and question. These results are interpreted as implying that the process of morpho-syntactic acquisition like Comp fusion occurs in parallel with the syntactic development and also with lexical acquisition. The results further call for examining in what other areas the fusionality parameter resetting occurs in acquisition of EFL.