Exploring Korean Passive Sentence Processing in Chinese L2 Learners: An Eye-Tracking Study

This study investigates the processing of Korean passive sentences by 33 native Korean speakers and 37 advanced Chinese learners of Korean, using eye-tracking technology. Passive sentences are challenging because the mapping between thematic roles and syntactic structure does not align, unlike in active sentences where agents typically appear as subjects. In addition, Korean’s use of morphological markers and flexible word order further complicates sentence processing. This study explores which sentence constituents impose higher cognitive demands and whether these demands differ between the two groups. It also examines how word order affects sentence processing and whether its impact varies across groups. The results show that Chinese learners, like native speakers, relied on case markers and experienced longer processing times at agent and patient arguments rather than the verb. However, unlike native speakers, who were unaffected by word order changes, learners showed higher cognitive load when processing sentences with scrambled word order. These findings underscore the importance of real-time processing research in understanding how learners’ sentence processing differs from that of native speakers, offering insights into second language acquisition.