초록 열기/닫기 버튼
The present study aimed to explore how the production of English derivation is differentially processed in the brain by Korean learners of English with low proficiency via a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technique. Word generation task involving level 1 and level 2 suffixed words elicited greater effects in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG), but not in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in the production of level 2 words as well as that of level 1 words relative to baseline condition. Given that the left IFG is known for its role in a rule-based or symbol-manipulating system and the STG/MTG plays an important part in lexico-semantic retrieval, the results suggest that both level 2 and level 1 words are generated as a whole with little access to their internal structure by low-proficient second language (L2) learners. This lends support to Ullman’s declarative-procedural model, according to which what is computed by procedural memory (i.e. a rule-based processing) in L1 speakers is processed by declarative memory (i.e. lexical storage/retrieval) in low-proficient L2 speakers.
