Partial Wh-movement in Korean-English Interlanguage

The present study investigated English complex wh-question forms that are allowed in Korean-English interlanguage. Special attention was paid to the question of whether the so-called scope marked partial wh-movement is part of genuine interlanguage grammar. Thirty-nine Korean subjects who passed a syntax test participated in a grammaticality judgment task along with ten native speakers of English. The results of the study showed that: 1) a substantial number of Korean learners consistently accepted the partial wh-movement construction with a scope marker; 2) the learners' acceptance rates were consistent regardless of the kind of matrix verb used in the test sentences; and 3) the learners who consistently accepted the scope marked partial wh-movement rarely accepted partial wh-movement without a scope marker. It is suggested that scope marked wh-movement reflects a grammar system that genuinely exists in Korean-English interlanguage.