영어 관계사절의 ACD 재구성: 최적성이론적 관점과 한국 영어교육을 위한 시사점

Reconstructing ACD in English Relative Clauses: An Optimality-Theoretic Account and Implications for English Education in Korea

This study examines Antecedent Contained Deletion (ACD) in English restrictive relative clauses through Optimality Theory (OT) and compares them with Korean relative clause structures to identify cognitive challenges faced by Korean learners. English relies on syntactic reconstruction processes such as movement and trace formation, whereas Korean depends on subordinating endings, resulting in differing constraint rankings that shape learners’ processing strategies. The analysis shows that English reconstruction involves interactions among constraints like Parallelism, Anti-Ambiguity, and Condition C, while Korean counterparts reveal the dominance of Clause Boundary and Subordinate Binding Constraints, which do not overtly reflect movement. These structural contrasts explain the heavier cognitive load experienced by Korean learners when interpreting English relative clauses. Pedagogically, the study highlights the need for explicit instruction, visualizing syntactic cues, and sequencing lessons from simple relative clauses to ACD structures. The findings contribute a framework integrating OT constraints with learner processing, offering insights for grammar instruction and syntactic reconstruction in English education.