| What makes Heritage Language (HL) learners different from non-HL learners is the fact that HL learners possess both linguistic characteristics of an L2 learner as well as a native speaker. Like most HL learners, Korean HL learners have been known for their high command of listening comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and cultural knowledge. Yet, studies in the field of Korean language studies have pointed out that HL learners also exhibit various and significant weaknesses in other areas, such as productive skills and grammar competency, which tend to persist despite years of formal (college-level) instruction. As a result, identifying linguistic differences between HL and non-HL learners has been an ongoing and critical issue.; This dissertation thus employs a design that empirically investigates the differences in language transfer and strategy when processing Korean relative clauses by using a picture-selection task. With varying degrees of language exposure and use, learners who participated in this experiment (N = 128) were categorized into five sub-groups based on their first language (L1): HL learners who reported (i) Korean as L1; (ii) Both Korean & English as L1; (iii) English as L1; and non-HL learners who reported (iv) English as L1; (v) Japanese L1. The results revealed that the L1 variable was crucial in determining the variability of both HL and non-HL learners. Furthermore, findings showed each sub-group of HL and non-HL learners to be employing different processing transfer and strategies, which in turn shed light on pedagogical and theoretical issues on language acquisition as well as on domains of psycholinguistics. |
