How do speakers of different languages differ in the encoding of complex motion events?

Languages vary considerably in how they encode motion. Research (Slobin 2004; Talmy 1985, 2000) has shown that inter-typological differences are found in the frequency of encoding (high vs. low) as well as in the locus of encoding (main verb vs. satellite). Based on these typological differences, cross-linguistic influence (CLI) research has sought to examine the impact of language typology on the processes and outcomes of second language (L2) learning. While research in this area has been fruitful in the past decade, the majority of studies (Cadierno and Ruiz 2006; Daller, Treffers-Daller, and Furman 2011; Park 2019) have centered on investigating the encoding of path and manner of spontaneous motion events. To expand our understanding of how different components of a motion event get selected and sequenced for verbalization, the current study compared encoding patterns of complex motion events by three different language groups (Korean speakers, n=15, English speakers, n=15, Korean learners of English, n=80). Complex motion events comprised three components of motion (i.e., path, manner, and cause), and participants’ descriptions were elicited using a video description task. The results indicated that monolingual speakers exhibited both universal and language-specific encoding patterns, and that English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ motion event descriptions in the L2 displayed L1-based patterns as well as unique characteristics that are specific to EFL learners. In addition, EFL learners’ English-like encoding patterns of complex motion events were largely predicted by L2 productive vocabulary scores.