L1 Influence in Pronoun Resolution by L2 Learners of English

Abstract

This study examined the interpretation of subject pronouns in discourse by L2 learners of English whose L1 is a null subject language, Korean. The purpose of the study was to see if L2 learners’ interpretation of subject pronouns is influenced by their null subject L1. A multiple- choice comprehension task was administered to fifty-eight Korean L2 learners who were classified into three different levels of English proficiency, to examine both forward and backward anaphora resolution. The results demonstrated that advanced L2 learners were nativelike in pronoun resolution, with the preferential choice of sentence-internal referents, whereas low-level L2 learners were significantly different from native English speakers. They also showed a developmental pattern in resolving L2 pronouns in which as the level of English proficiency increases, Korean L2 learners proceed from L1-like resolution to target-like resolution. These data indicated that the interpretation of subject pronouns in a nonnull subject L2 is influenced by learners’ null subject L1.