This paper examines some representative examples of wh-question, and argues, contra Shima (1999), that the typological differences in wh-questions should not be attributed to the language-specific distribution of wh-feature in wh-words but to the EPP-feature and the availability of multiple checking of [Q]-feature in C. Under the assumption that wh-movement is triggered by the [Wh-F], as in Shima, there is no way to explain successive cyclic wh-movement and the differences between languages with multiple overt wh-movements and those with no multiple wh-question. If movement is assumed to be a composite operation of Agree and Merge, as in Chomsky (1998), the properties of C are responsible for the checking of wh-feature and wh-movement. This version of feature checking has merit overt that of Shima`s, in that it assumes wh-phrases invariably have a [WH-F]. However, Chomsky`s analysis is also problematic in explaining multiple overt wh-movements in Bulgarian type languages, since the MLC cannot be reduced to the locality condition. To cover a full range of wh-movements, this paper proposes that a mover-oriented MLC should be supplemented to the probe-oriented locality condition.

On the Typology of Wh-Questions

转换生成语法教程 = Transformational Grammar

http://kinderlab.bcs.rochester.edu/papers/KurumadaJaeger2015.pdf

Communicative efficiency in language production: Optional case-marking in Japanese

Korean universities started offering English-medium instruction (EMI) classes in the 1990s, and the number has significantly increased since the Korean government began providing financial support for universities in the mid-2000s. This paper attempts to examine the past, present, and future of EMI in Korean higher education using document analysis of an extensive volume of research papers, newspaper articles, books, and internet sources on EMI in Korean tertiary education. Documents related to the Korean government’s official EMI policies were also collected and analyzed. The paper discusses why and how the Korean government initiated and supported EMI implementation in Korean universities, why and how universities have adopted and implemented EMI policies, professors’ and students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward EMI, and what are considered desirable EMI methods for Korean university students. The paper concludes with some remarks about future directions that Korean universities are likely to take in relation to EMI.

English Medium Instruction in Korean Higher Education: Challenges and Future Directions

Over-reliance on English hinders cognitive science

Scientific studies of language behavior need to grapple with a large diversity of languages in the world and, for reading, a further variability in writing systems. Yet, the ability to form meaningful theories of reading is contingent on the availability of cross-linguistic behavioral data. This paper offers new insights into aspects of reading behavior that are shared and those that vary systematically across languages through an investigation of eye-tracking data from 13 languages recorded during text reading. We begin with reporting a bibliometric analysis of eye-tracking studies showing that the current empirical base is insufficient for cross-linguistic comparisons. We respond to this empirical lacuna by presenting the Multilingual Eye-Movement Corpus (MECO), the product of an international multi-lab collaboration. We examine which behavioral indices differentiate between reading in written languages, and which measures are stable across languages. One of the findings is that readers of different languages vary considerably in their skipping rate (i.e., the likelihood of not fixating on a word even once) and that this variability is explained by cross-linguistic differences in word length distributions. In contrast, if readers do not skip a word, they tend to spend a similar average time viewing it. We outline the implications of these findings for theories of reading. We also describe prospective uses of the publicly available MECO data, and its further development plans. 

/pdf/expanding-horizons-of-cross-linguistic-research-on-reading-2wx24ixj.pdf

Expanding horizons of cross-linguistic research on reading: The Multilingual Eye-movement Corpus (MECO)

Case markers in Korean are omissible in colloquial speech. Previous discourse studies of Caseless bare NPs in Korean show that the information structure of zero Nominative not only differs from that of overt Nominative but it also differs from that of zero Accusative in many respects. This paper aims to provide a basis for these semantic/pragmatic properties of Caseless NPs through the syntactic difference between bare subjects and bare objects: namely, the former are left-dislocated NPs, whereas the latter form complex predicates with the subcategorizing verbs. Our analysis will account for the facts that (i) the distribution of bare subject NPs are more restricted than that of bare object NPs; (ii) bare subject NPs must be specific or topical; (iii) Acc-marked NPs in canonical position tend to be focalized. (Konkuk University and Sungkyunkwan University)

/pdf/subject-object-asymmetries-of-morphological-case-realization-r4a3f1zoyh.pdf

Subject-Object Asymmetries of Morphological Case Realization

This paper aims to show that CP deletion in English and Korean is not possible. We suggest that the absence of CP ellipsis results from the premise that lexical categories such as V don"t bear an E feature, hence cannot license the deletion of their CP complements. We claim that apparent CP ellipsis is equivalent to DP deletion, which is subsequently subsumed to the occurrence of Pro.

On the Absence of CP Ellipsis in English and Korean

More on the Absence of CP Ellipsis: A Reply to Park (2009)

Ahn, Hee-Don and Cho, Sungeun. 2011. Notes on Two Types of Fragments. Linguistic Research 28(1), 19-35. Korean has two types of fragments: Case-marked and case-less fragments. We suggest that they must be treated differently: Case-marked fragments are derived from TP ellipsis, while caseless fragments are just CPs directly dominating non-sentential NPs. Patterns of fragments containing negative polarity items or temporal adverbs support our claim that caseless fragments do not correlate with any sentential source. One of the issues regarding the architectures of grammar is whether the pragmatic/semantic factors come into play independently from syntax. Culicover & Jackendoff (2005) suggest that the grammar consists of parallel generative components, at least independent components for phonology, syntax, and semantics, each of which creates its own type of combinatorial complexity (this architecture of grammar is often called parallelism). This paper aims to defend the syntactocentrism advocated in Minimalism led by Chomsky (1995) that the grammar permits sound structure and semantic/pragmatic structure to interact only by way of syntax proper by exploring two kinds of fragments in Korean.

/pdf/notes-on-two-types-of-fragments-3t57kk339m.pdf

Hee-Don Ahn

Papers

Expanding horizons of cross-linguistic research on reading: The Multilingual Eye-movement Corpus (MECO)

Subject-Object Asymmetries of Morphological Case Realization

On the Absence of CP Ellipsis in English and Korean

More on the Absence of CP Ellipsis: A Reply to Park (2009)

Notes on Two Types of Fragments