Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/59352

The purpose of this paper is to review the typological approach to learning difficulty in second language acquisition and to consider its possible application to the learning difficulty found in the acquisition of cases in Korean and Japanese. I will first briefly show how the typological approach to learning difficulty has developed in second language acquisition research by incorporating the notion of markedness. Then, I will critically review the discussion on the controversial nature of “markedness,” which plays a central role in this approach. Finally, adopting an integrated notion of markedness, I will show in a preliminary way how this approach can be applied to the study of learning difficulty in the acquisition of grammatical cases in Korean and Japanese.