Accuracy order of grammatical morphemes of korean EFL learners: Disparities among the same L1 groups

Linguistic Research 32 (Special Edition), 151-171. Studies questioning the proposed invariant natural order of second language (L2) morpheme acquisition have reported evidence of strong first language (L1) effects on the acquisition order of L2 English grammatical morphemes. In view of these findings, the current study investigated disparities in the morpheme acquisition orders of different groups with the same L1 Korean background. First, this study examined 173 writing samples written by Korean elementary school students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) to investigate the acquisition order of eight grammatical morphemes. Afterwards, the revealed order was compared to the findings from previous studies conducted with L1 Korean groups. The results showed that the acquisition order of the Korean EFL learners of this study did not support the natural order. Furthermore, comparison of findings to previous studies revealed disparities among the L1 Korean groups learning English indicating the need for investigation into methodology as well as other external determinants in addition to L1 transfer.