The goal of this study is to examine case markers in Korean, i.e., i/ka and (l)ul, from a communicative perspective. In particular, this study seeks to explain what communicative functions the case markers hold in actual conversation. Based on the empirical analysis of the data, this study claims that the case markers in Korean are not only used for encoding the syntactic case of a given argument but they are also used as a linguistic cue to help focus the listener's attention on the processing difficulty and the informational importance that the given argument denotes. It further argues that speakers of Korean strategically use the case markers as a means of facilitating successful communication with the listener.

• Taeho Kim(Pusan National University)