Crosslinguistic Influence on the Korean Reflexive Caki: Potential Effects of L2 English on L1 Interpretation

This study explores bidirectional crosslinguistic influence in the interpretation of reflexive pronouns, with a focus on whether L2 English experience induces a regressive L2-to-L1 influence among Korean and Azerbaijani learners. Whereas the English reflexives <italic>himself/herself</italic>, the Korean <italic>caki-casin</italic>, and the Azerbaijani öz follow strict syntactic constraints that allow only clause-mate antecedents, the Korean reflexive <italic>caki</italic> involves additional semantic and discourse factors, making it potentially more susceptible to crosslinguistic influence. Eighty-four L2 English learners (44 L1-Korean, 40 L1-Azerbaijani) completed a picture-based truth-value judgment task in English and in their respective L1s. The task manipulated context (long-distance vs. local) and pronominal type (simple vs. reflexive pronoun). Results showed that all learner groups performed in a target-like manner in English. In their L1, the Azerbaijani participants and Korean participants tested on <italic>caki-casin</italic> demonstrated consistent local binding, whereas the Koreans tested on <italic>caki</italic> exhibited considerable variability. Notably, Korean participants with higher proficiency in English showed stricter and more monolithic categorical interpretation patterns—favoring long-distance bindings while disallowing local bindings—than did lower-proficiency participants, suggesting that exposure to L2 English may modulate L1 interpretive preferences. Based on these results, we suggest that <italic>caki</italic> may be particularly susceptible to crosslinguistic influence.