Processing Scrambled Wh-Constructions in Head-Final Languages: Dependency Resolution and Feature Checking

This paper aims at exploring the processing mechanism of filler-gap dependency resolution and feature checking in Korean wh-constructions. Based on their findings on Japanese sentence processing, Aoshima et al. (2004) have argued that the parser posits a gap in the embedded clause in head-final languages, unlike in head-initial languages, where the parser posits a gap in the matrix clause. In order to verify their findings in the Korean context, and to further explore the mechanisms involved in processing Korean wh-constructions, the present study replicated the study done by Aoshima et al., with some modifications of problematic areas in their original design. Sixty-four Korean native speakers were presented Korean sentences containing a wh-phrase in four conditions, with word order and complementizer type as the two main factors. The participants read sentences segment-by-segment, and the reading times at each segment were measured. The reading time analysis showed that there was no such slowdown at the embedded verb in the scrambled conditions as observed in Aoshima et al. Instead, there was a clear indication of the wh-feature checking process in terms of a major slowdown at the relevant region.