Acquisition of Variation among Learners of Korean as a Third Language The fourth meeting of the New Ways of Analyzing Variation in Asia-Pacific; “Interface between sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics.” April 22-24 2016, in Chiayi, Taiwan Mihi Park Centre for Language Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore AS4, 9 Arts Link, #05-10, Singapore 117570 +65-6516 2479, clspm@nus.edu.sg Abstract Although third language acquisition studies have been growing rapidly over the past decade, the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in a third language has not been extensively examined (cf. Dewaele (2002) and Chasaide & Regan (2008)). Production of structurally-correct sentences does not guarantee a complete mastery of sociolinguistic variation phenomena comparable to the competence of native speakers. Native speakers of Korean, for example, vary in their use of argument realisation between full NP with explicit case marker (NP-CM), full NP with dropped case marker (NP-Ø), and covert NP (Ø). Full realisation of all arguments only happens in half of all sentences among native speakers (Kim, 2008). The present study investigates whether prior experience with formal study of an L2 influences Korean learners’ Type 1 variation (i.e., correct versus incorrect argument realization) and Type 2 variation (i.e., variation between alternative acceptable variants). Participants in this research were early bilinguals (English-Chinese/Malay) who had been studying Korean for eight months at the National University of Singapore. Samples of written essays from 119 participants were analysed. Participants were classified as either Early Bilinguals (EBLs) or EBLs+L2, meaning Early Bilinguals who had studied an additional language in a formal setting. Learners’ variation patterns were examined in light of (a) variation patterns present in classroom input from the textbook and instructors, (b) formal L2 learning experience, and (c) familiarity of sentence structure type. While both groups performed comparably in terms of Type 1 variation, meaning that they produced the same proportion of correct versus incorrect tokens, the variation patterns of EBLs+L2 were found to more closely mirror the patterns of their classroom input as compared to EBLs, suggesting that students with prior formal L2 learning experience have enhanced sensitivity to Type 2 variation. Specifically, significant differences were found between the two learner groups for sentence structures that are unique to the L3 and thus unfamiliar to learners. This study demonstrates that, in addition to previously demonstrated benefits for acquisition of grammatical competence, prior language learning experience may facilitate acquisition of variation patterns and thus enhance sociolinguistic competence in a third language. Reference Chasaide, N. C., Regan, V. (2008). Irish adolescents, three languages and identity construction: finding a voice in French pp 51 - 79 In Regan, V. & Chasaide, N. C. (eds) Language Practices and Identity Construction by Multilingual Speakers of French L2: The Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Variation. Oxford: Peter Lang Dewaele, J. (2002). Using sociostylistic variants in advanced French interlanguage: The case of nous/on? EUROSLA Yearbook 2, 205–226