Cover not available

In:New Frontiers and Connections in Second Language Acquisition: Selected Proceedings of the 17th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (GASLA-17) Conference
Edited by Tania Ionin and Silvina Montrul
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 71] 2026
► pp. 129–152

How adults interpret disjunction under negation in native and nonnative Korean

 | University of Hawai‘i
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This study examines how adult native and nonnative Korean speakers interpret negated disjunction, inspired by Grüter, Lieberman, and Gualmini (2010). Using a novel methodology with controlled prosody and the prediction mode of the truth-value judgment task, we tested Korean native speakers and two nonnative Korean groups — L1-English and L1-Japanese learners of Korean. Results confirm that Korean native speakers predominantly accept a conjunctive reading, with limited acceptance of a disjunctive reading. Similarly, nonnative speakers prefer the conjunctive reading, with no strong evidence of L1 transfer or proficiency effects, though some advanced L1-Japanese learners of Korean display an L1-like behavior. These findings suggest that while both interpretations are available in Korean, their acceptance differs, with a clear preference for the conjunctive reading.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Cross-linguistic variation in the interpretation of negated disjunction
    • 2.2L1 research on negated disjunction
    • 2.3L2 research on negated disjunction: English and Japanese
    • 2.4Negated disjunction in Korean
  • 3.Study motivation and research questions
  • 4.Methods
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Procedure
    • 4.3TVJT design and materials
  • 5.Data analysis
    • 5.1Participant exclusion
    • 5.2Data analysis
  • 6.Results
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (28)
References
Baayen, H. R. (2008). Analyzing linguistic data: A practical introduction to statistics using R. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B. M., & Walker, S. C. (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67, 1–48. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chierchia, G., Crain, S., Guasti, M. T., & Thornton, R. (1998). ‘Some’ and ‘or’: A study on the emergence of logical form. In A. Greenhill, M. Hughes, H. Littlefield, & H. Walsh (Eds.), Proceedings from the 22nd annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 97–108). Cascadilla.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crain, S., & McKee, C. (1985). The acquisition of structural restrictions on anaphora. In S. Berman, J.-W. Choe, & J. McDonough (Eds.), Proceedings from the 15th Meeting of the North Eastern Linguistic Society (pp. 94–110). GLSA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crain, S., & Thornton, R. (1998). Investigations in universal grammar: A guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax and semantics. The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Morgan, A. (1847). Formal logic: Or, the calculus of inference, necessary and probable. Taylor and Walton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goro, T. (2007). Language-specific constraints on scope interpretation in first language acquisition (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Maryland at College Park.
Goro, T., & Akiba, S. (2004). Japanese disjunction and the acquisition of positive polarity. In Y. Otsu (Ed.), Proceedings of the 5th Tokyo Conference on Psycholinguistics (pp. 137–162). Hituzi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. Syntax and Semantics, 3, 43–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1989). Studies in the way of words. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grüter, T., Lieberman, M., & Gualmini, A. (2010). Acquiring the scope of disjunction and negation in L2: A bidirectional study of learners of Japanese and English. Language Acquisition, 17(3),127–154. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gualmini, A. (2004). Some knowledge children don’t lack. Linguistics, 42(5), 957–982. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, C-H., & Romero, M. (2004). The syntax of whether/Q… or questions: Ellipsis combined with movement. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 22(3), 527–564. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jing, C., Crain, S., & Hsu, C-F. (2005). The interpretation of focus in Chinese: Child and adult language. In Y. Otsu (Ed.), Proceedings from the 6th Tokyo Conference on Psycholinguistics (pp. 165–190). Hituzi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Larralde, C., Konradt, A., & Szendrői, K. E. (2021). Information structure and scope interactions: Disjunction wide scope induced by focus. Frontiers in Communication, 5, 595799. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, O-S. (2010). Acquisition of Korean disjunction under negation. Working Papers in Linguistics, 41(7), 1–12. Department of Linguistics, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee-Ellis, S. (2009). The development and validation of a Korean C-Test using Rasch Analysis. Language Testing, 26(2), 245–274. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lungu, O., Fălăuș, A., & Panzeri, F. (2021). Disjunction in negative contexts: A cross-linguistic experimental study. Journal of Semantics, 38(2), 221–247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Grady, W. (2013). Facts and issues: Response to the commentaries. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 3(3), 373–383. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Grady, W., Lee, O-S., & Lee, J-H. (2011). Practical and theoretical issues in the study of heritage language acquisition. Heritage Language Journal, 8(3), 315–332. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Okuma, T. (2026). Acquiring scope of logical connectives and negation in Japanese as a second language. In T. Ionin & S. Montrul (Eds.), New Frontiers and Connections in Second Language Acquisition: Selected Proceedings of the 17th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (GASLA-17) Conference. John Benjamins. (this volume)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pruitt, K., & Roelofsen, F. (2013). The interpretation of prosody in disjunctive questions. Linguistic Inquiry, 44(4), 632–650. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
R Core Team. (2022). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria [Software]. [URL]
Shibata, Y. (2015). Exploring syntax from the interfaces (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Connecticut.
Szabolcsi, A. (2002). Hungarian disjunctions and positive polarity. In I. Kenesei & P. Siptár (Eds.), Approaches to Hungarian 8 (pp. 217–241). Akadémiai Kiadó.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tieu, L., Yatsushiro, K., Cremers, A., Romoli, J., Sauerland, U., & Chemla, E. (2017). On the role of alternatives in the acquisition of simple and complex disjunctions in French and Japanese. Journal of Semantics, 34(1), 127–152.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Hout, A., Kisjes, J., Cochard, A., Gulás, M., Hoeksema, J., Pagliarini, E., Slim, M., van Wijk, A., & Surányi, B. (2024). Prosodic disambiguation and the scope ambiguity of sentences with negation and disjunction in Dutch. TABU, Bulletin voor Taalwetenschap, 329–365. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yusa, M., & Schwartz, B. D. (2022). L2 reconstruction effects in negated disjunction under pseudoclefts. Japanese/Korean Linguistics, 29, 291–305.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue