• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.353-358
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• 2021

This study provides the syntactic analysis for the agreement attraction by proposing three types of syntactic subject-verb agreement. Because subject-verb number agreement codifies the link between a predicate and its subject, it must be the purely syntactic processes of the head-to-head agreement or the feature percolation, where relevant agreement features percolate upward or downward through the hierarchical syntactic structure. The agreement errors are not affected by linear proximity or minimal interference, but instead are affected by the hierarchical relationship between an agreement target and a local attractor. The data in this paper includes the complex noun phrases with a modifier PP or a relative clause CP. Here, the [+PL] feature is suggested to be a local attractor for subject-verb agreement errors as a strong feature. Therefore, speakers tend to erroneously produce plural agreement for a singular subject in a main clause due to a plural NP in a modifier PP or plural agreement for a singular subject in a relative clause due to plural main subject.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.5
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• pp.219-247
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• 1999

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Korean learners of English reset the "prodrop" parameter of Korean into "non-prodrop" parameter of English in the process of English acquisition. An experiment was conducted to 45 Korean learners of English on the prodrop phenomenon, namely on the null referential or null nonreferential subject, and subject-verb agreement by way of grammatical judgment. The results of the experiment are as follows: First, L2 learners follow the parameter of L1, and then reset the parameter of L2 regardless of the parameter of L1 as their L2 abilities advance. Thus, this study provides further support for the hypothesis that universal grammar is available via L1. Second, the referential subject is, at first, easier to acquire than nonreferential subject, and the triggering fact for the switch from [+prodrop] to [-prodrop] was the use of nonreferential subjects. Third, 3rd person agreement has no connection with the acquisition of the prodrop parameter as a result of subject-verb agreement. Therefore, these results indicate that verb agreement is not a trigger for the recognition of the obligatory subject.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.529-535
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• 2014

This study is to establish the consistency of Subject-Verb agreement in quantifier phrase. Absence of consistency in English grammar is critical to the grammaticality. We focused on the grammar part, specifically, S-V agreement rule in quantifier phrase. We believe the existence of exceptional rules in quantifier S-V structure is not necessary as the basic grammar rule on S-V agreement is sufficient enough and adding exceptional rules just make it more difficult and confusing. We argue specific features indwelt in each quantifier are linked when quantifiers are used pronominally and the ${\pm}$feature plays an important role in quantifier S-V agreement structure. This study shows the solution to eliminate the ungrammaticality in typical English text books by simplifying quantifier S-V agreement to make it solid and systematic.

• Language and Information
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.55-68
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• 2003

Most of the previous approaches to English agreement phenomena have relied upon only one component of the grammar (e.g., either syntax, or semantics, or pragmatics). This paper argues that interrelationships among different grammatical components play crucial roles in such phenomenon too (cf. Kathol 1999 and Hudson 1999). The paper proposes that, contrary to traditional wisdom, English determiner-noun agreement is morpho-syntactic whereas subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement are reflections of index agreement (cf. Pollard and Sag 1994). The present hybrid analysis of English agreement shows the importance of the interaction of different components of the grammar in accounting for English agreement phenomena. In particular, once we allow morphology to tightly interact with the system of syntax, semantics, or even pragmatics, we could provide a solution to some puzzling English agreement phenomena. This allows a more principled theory of English agreement.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Corpus Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.23-34
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• 2021

This research examines Japanese non-native speakers' (JNNS) modal auxiliary verb use from two different perspectives: frequency of use and preferences for modalities. Additionally, error analysis is carried out to identify errors in modal use common among JNNSs. Their modal use is compared to that of English native speakers within a spoken dialogue corpus which is part of the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners' English. Research findings show at a statistically significant level that when compared to native speakers, JNNSs underuse past forms of modals and infrequently convey epistemic modality, indicating the possibility that JNNSs fail to express their opinions or thoughts indirectly when needed or to convey politeness appropriately. Error analysis identifies the following three types of common errors: (1) the use of incorrect tenses of modal verb phrases, (2) the use of inflected verb forms after modals, and (3) the non-use of main verbs after modals. The first type of error is largely because JNNSs do not master how to express past meanings of modals. The second and third types of errors seem to be due to first language transfer into second language acquisition and JNNSs' overgeneralization of the subject-verb agreement rules to modals respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Language and Information Conference
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• 2002.02a
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• pp.205-216
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• 2002

ECM across a CP in Korean poses difficulties from the standpoint of the locality of A-movement/agreement. A phase-based analysis is developed which requires two steps: (i) in the embedded CP, VP/VP containing its VP-internal subject first moves to Spec-CP, which renders the subject accessible to the matrix v, in accordance with Chomsky's Phase Impenetrability Condition; (ii) ECM takes place in a local relation between the matrix v and the embedded subject. It is shown that the otherwise puzzling fact that ECM across a CP, but not Passivization across a CP, is affected by the type of the embedded verb in Korean is accounted for in a principled way, based on the assumption that CP and CP, but not TP and VP, are phases.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.47-66
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• 2007

Error analysis plays an important role because understanding the types of errors can give a better opportunity for both teachers and learners to recognize the nature of errors and ways of preventing them. This study looks into errors in the medical research abstracts written by 26 Koreans and also examines hedging expressions since hedging can be a necessary tactic in which the validity and objectivity of their claims is conveyed. The hedging expressions of these research abstracts are to be compared with those of Hyland (1996)'s study done on ENL academic writers of cell and molecular biology. The results of the study reveal that wrong word choice was the most commonly occurred errors, followed by prepositions, articles, adding and missing words. Many of these errors, except articles, seemed to derive from the native language interference. There were also run-on sentences, subject & verb agreement, tense, word order and minor errors. As for hedging, ESL medical writers seemed to use very limited hedging expressions and inappropriately strong modals. It is recommended to take variations of hedges using epistemic adverbials and adjectives to present their claims in a more valid and polite way. Limited verb choice was also noted. As for preventing or minimizing similar future errors, collocation practices in ESP focused on commonly used medical related words and expressions can be effective.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.5
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• pp.27-48
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• 1999

College students frequently feel their grammar knowledge from primary and middle school is not useful when they are asked to speak in college conversation classes. Because of their frustration at their lack of communicational ability as well as inappropriate teaching methods and class textbooks that have little to do with the student's major course of study, the student often has a low motivation to study. It is not uncommon for students to seek English education outside of their college classrooms by going to language institutes or studying abroad. College teachers need to find a way to use the student's background in grammar from primary and secondary schools. Despite the student's sentiment about his/her grammar education, grammar is an essential key to successful English conversation. Some ways that teachers can close the gap between primary and secondary school grammar education and college conversation classes are: to use a theme-based methodology, cue cards, and modeling. Activities such as Grammar Clinic, Grammar Police, and Show and Tell can be effective ways to bridge this gap. Teachers can use these activities and methods to correct such student errors as: incorrect word order, missing or unnecessary be verbs, confusion between be and do verbs, subject-verb agreement. and incorrect tense.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.649-663
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• 2015

This study investigated the current state of writing in research papers of science education with focus on the translationese and basic Korean grammar, and found a way of improving the Korean language. The science education research have characteristics of both social science and natural science, and of having more quantitative than qualitative research, which could influence the writing of the research paper. The translationese means the conventional expression originated from foreign language other than Korean. The basic Korean grammar includes 'agreement,' 'spelling, word spacing, punctuation mark,' 'causative suffix,' 'use of English or loanword,' and the translationese is divided in 'English,' 'Japanese,' and 'English and Japanese.' The sentences in nine research papers in the 'Journal of the Korean Association for Science Education' were analyzed, and the problematic sentences were discussed and provided with alternatives. The cases with high frequency include '-jeok,' 'use of English,' 'expression of the plural,' 'passive voice of the verb with -hada,' '-go inneun,' '-eul tonghayeo,' '-e daehayeo,' 'gajida,' 'genitive case marker -eui,' 'passive voice with subject of thing,' and 'causative suffix, -sikida.' Based on the results, the characteristics of writing of science education research papers were described as 'writing of quantitative research,' 'objective writing of academic research,' and 'writing of research of foreign origin.' In order to improve the writing of research paper of science education, the science education researcher should pay attention to basic Korean grammar and the translationese, and be familiar with the concrete examples of problematic cases. The results of this study could be used in the education of writing and grammar of Korean language.