Korean EFL Learners’ Identification of English Consonant Contrasts in Word-final Position

doi:10.18627/jslg.35.3.201911.375

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2019 Vol.35, Issue 3 Preview Page Next Page

Research Article

Korean EFL Learners’ Identification of English Consonant Contrasts in Word-final Position: Park, Sang-Yean and Lee, Shinsook

30 November 2019. pp. 375-388

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Abstract

The study investigated whether Korean EFL learners’ identification of English consonant contrasts in word-final position was affected by the types of contrasting consonants and by vowel contexts. The study also examined whether Korean EFL learners’ identification accuracy had a correlation with their English listening comprehension test scores. To that end, 123 Korean high school students completed an English consonant identification task with English nonce words. The nonce word stimuli consisted of 8 types of English consonant minimal pairs (/p-f/, /b-v/, /t-ɵ/, /d-ð/, /s-ʧ/, /z-ʤ/, /s-ɵ/, /z-ð/) combined with one of three vowels (/i, a, u/). The results showed that both the types of contrasting consonants and vowel contexts had a great impact on Korean high school students’ identification of English consonant contrasts in word-final position. Korean high school students’ ability to identify English consonant contrasts was also correlated with their English listening comprehension test scores. Based on the findings of the study, some implications for the teaching and learning of English consonant contrasts for Korean EFL learners were drawn.

Keywords

English consonant identification

types of contrasting pairs

vowel contexts

correlation

L2/ foreign language sound learning

References

Ahn, H. 2009. The Role of Phonemic Awareness in Korean High School Students’ English Listening Comprehension. Foreign Languages Education 16.2, 245-266.
Bae, D. 2007. Strengths and Weakness in the Perception of the English Consonant Sounds of Korean University Students. Studies in Modern Grammar 49, 177-198.
Best, T. C. 1995. A Direct Realist View of Cross-language Speech. In W. Strange (ed.), Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Issues in Cross-language Research. Timonium, MD: York, 171-204.
Best, C. T. and M. D. Tyler. 2007. Nonnative and Second-language Speech Perception: Commonalities and Complementarities. In M. J. Munro, and O.-S. Bohn (eds.), Second Language Speech Learning: The Role of Language Experience in Speech Perception and Production. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 13-34. 10.1075/lllt.17.07bes
Celce-Murcia, M., D. M. Brinton, and J. M. Goodwin. 2010. Teaching Pronunciation. Cambridge University Press.
Cho, M-H. and S. Lee. 2007. Category Matching between English and Korean Consonants in Different Prosodic Environments. English Language and Literature 53.5, 731-753. 10.15794/jell.2007.53.5.003
Cho, M-H. and S. Lee. 2016. Use of L1 Categories in the Identification of English Posterior Obstruents. English Language and Linguistics 22.2, 59-80. 10.17960/ell.2016.22.2.004
De Jong, K. and M.-H. Cho. 2012. Loanword Phonology and Perceptual Mapping: Comparing Two Corpora of Korean Contact with English. Language 88.2, 341-368. 10.1353/lan.2012.0035
Dubno, R. and H. Levitt. 1981. Predicting Consonant Confusions from Acoustic Analysis. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 69.1, 249-61. 10.1121/1.385345 7217523
Eckman, F. R. and G. K. Iverson. 1994. Pronunciation Difficulties in ESL: Coda Consonants in English Interlanguage. In M. Yavas (ed.), First and Second Language Phonology. San Diego, CA: Singular, 251-265.
Flege, J. E. 1995. Second Language Speech Learning: Theory, Findings and Problems. In W. Strange (ed.), Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Issues in Cross-language Research. Timonium, MD: York, 233-277.
Guion, S., J. E. Flege, R. Akahane-Yamada, and J. Pruitt. (2000). An Investigation of Current Models of Second Language Speech Perception: The Case of Japanese Adults’ Perception of English Consonants. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 107, 2711-2724. 10.1121/1.428657 10830393
Kalaiah, M. and J. Bhat. 2017. Effect of Vowel Context on the Recognition of Initial Consonants in Kannada. Journal of Audiology and Otology 21.3, 146-151. 10.7874/jao.2017.00122 28942630 PMC5621793
Kim, H. 2012. The Effect of High School Student’s Ability of Discriminating English Consonants on the Scores of English Listening Comprehension Test. MA Thesis, Korea National University of Education.
Kolinsky, R., P. Lidji, I. Peretz, M. Besson, and J. Morais. 2009. Processing Interactions between Phonology and Melody: Vowels Sing but Consonants Speak. Cognition 112. 1-20. 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.02.014 19409537
Ladefoged, P. 2006. A Course in Phonetics (Fifth Edition). Thomson Wadsworth.
Major, R. C. and M. C. Faudree. 1996. Markedness Universals and the Acquisition of Voicing Contrasts by Korean Speakers of English. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 18, 69-90. 10.1017/S0272263100014686
Mehler, J., M. Peña, M. Nespor, and L. Bonatti. 2006. The “Soul” of Language Does Not Use Statistics: Reflections on Vowels and Consonants. Cortex 42. 846-854. 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70427-1
Mojsin, L. 2009. Mastering the American Accent. Los Angeles, CA: Barron’s.
Park, H. and K. de Jong. 2008. Perceptual Category Mapping between English and Korean Prevocalic Obstruents: Evidence from Mapping Effects in Second Language Identification Skills. Journal of Phonetics 36.4, 704-723. 10.1016/j.wocn.2008.06.002
Park, H. and K. de Jong. 2017. Perceptual Category Mapping Between English and Korean Obstruents in Non-CV Positions: Prosodic Location Effects in Second Language Identification Skills. Journal of Phonetics 62, 12-33. 10.1016/j.wocn.2017.01.005
Samuels, S. J. (1988). Decoding and Automaticity: Helping Poor Readers Become Automatic at Word Recognition. The Reading Teacher 41, 756-760.
Sohn, H.-M. 1999. The Korean Language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Woods, L., W. Yund, J. Herron, and M. A. Ua Cruadhlaoich. 2010. Consonant Identification in Consonant-vowel- consonant Syllables in Speech-spectrum Noise. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 127.3, 1609-23. 10.1121/1.3293005 20329860
Yun, G. 2014. Korean Listeners’ Perception of L2 English Phoneme Contrast. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 20.2, 161-185. 10.17959/sppm.2014.20.2.161

Information

Publisher :The Modern Linguistic Society of Korea
Publisher(Ko) :한국현대언어학회
Journal Title :The Journal of Studies in Language
Journal Title(Ko) :언어연구
Volume : 35
No :3
Pages :375-388
DOI :https://doi.org/10.18627/jslg.35.3.201911.375

[1] Ahn, H. 2009. The Role of Phonemic Awareness in Korean High School Students’ English Listening Comprehension. Foreign Languages Education 16.2, 245-266.

[2] Bae, D. 2007. Strengths and Weakness in the Perception of the English Consonant Sounds of Korean University Students. Studies in Modern Grammar 49, 177-198.

[3] Best, T. C. 1995. A Direct Realist View of Cross-language Speech. In W. Strange (ed.), Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Issues in Cross-language Research. Timonium, MD: York, 171-204.

[4] Best, C. T. and M. D. Tyler. 2007. Nonnative and Second-language Speech Perception: Commonalities and Complementarities. In M. J. Munro, and O.-S. Bohn (eds.), Second Language Speech Learning: The Role of Language Experience in Speech Perception and Production. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 13-34. 10.1075/lllt.17.07bes

[5] Celce-Murcia, M., D. M. Brinton, and J. M. Goodwin. 2010. Teaching Pronunciation. Cambridge University Press.

[6] Cho, M-H. and S. Lee. 2007. Category Matching between English and Korean Consonants in Different Prosodic Environments. English Language and Literature 53.5, 731-753. 10.15794/jell.2007.53.5.003

[7] Cho, M-H. and S. Lee. 2016. Use of L1 Categories in the Identification of English Posterior Obstruents. English Language and Linguistics 22.2, 59-80. 10.17960/ell.2016.22.2.004

[8] De Jong, K. and M.-H. Cho. 2012. Loanword Phonology and Perceptual Mapping: Comparing Two Corpora of Korean Contact with English. Language 88.2, 341-368. 10.1353/lan.2012.0035

[9] Dubno, R. and H. Levitt. 1981. Predicting Consonant Confusions from Acoustic Analysis. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 69.1, 249-61. 10.1121/1.385345 7217523

[10] Eckman, F. R. and G. K. Iverson. 1994. Pronunciation Difficulties in ESL: Coda Consonants in English Interlanguage. In M. Yavas (ed.), First and Second Language Phonology. San Diego, CA: Singular, 251-265.

[11] Flege, J. E. 1995. Second Language Speech Learning: Theory, Findings and Problems. In W. Strange (ed.), Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Issues in Cross-language Research. Timonium, MD: York, 233-277.

[12] Guion, S., J. E. Flege, R. Akahane-Yamada, and J. Pruitt. (2000). An Investigation of Current Models of Second Language Speech Perception: The Case of Japanese Adults’ Perception of English Consonants. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 107, 2711-2724. 10.1121/1.428657 10830393

[13] Kalaiah, M. and J. Bhat. 2017. Effect of Vowel Context on the Recognition of Initial Consonants in Kannada. Journal of Audiology and Otology 21.3, 146-151. 10.7874/jao.2017.00122 28942630 PMC5621793

[14] Kim, H. 2012. The Effect of High School Student’s Ability of Discriminating English Consonants on the Scores of English Listening Comprehension Test. MA Thesis, Korea National University of Education.

[15] Kolinsky, R., P. Lidji, I. Peretz, M. Besson, and J. Morais. 2009. Processing Interactions between Phonology and Melody: Vowels Sing but Consonants Speak. Cognition 112. 1-20. 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.02.014 19409537

[16] Ladefoged, P. 2006. A Course in Phonetics (Fifth Edition). Thomson Wadsworth.

[17] Major, R. C. and M. C. Faudree. 1996. Markedness Universals and the Acquisition of Voicing Contrasts by Korean Speakers of English. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 18, 69-90. 10.1017/S0272263100014686

[18] Mehler, J., M. Peña, M. Nespor, and L. Bonatti. 2006. The “Soul” of Language Does Not Use Statistics: Reflections on Vowels and Consonants. Cortex 42. 846-854. 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70427-1

[19] Mojsin, L. 2009. Mastering the American Accent. Los Angeles, CA: Barron’s.

[20] Park, H. and K. de Jong. 2008. Perceptual Category Mapping between English and Korean Prevocalic Obstruents: Evidence from Mapping Effects in Second Language Identification Skills. Journal of Phonetics 36.4, 704-723. 10.1016/j.wocn.2008.06.002

[21] Park, H. and K. de Jong. 2017. Perceptual Category Mapping Between English and Korean Obstruents in Non-CV Positions: Prosodic Location Effects in Second Language Identification Skills. Journal of Phonetics 62, 12-33. 10.1016/j.wocn.2017.01.005

[22] Samuels, S. J. (1988). Decoding and Automaticity: Helping Poor Readers Become Automatic at Word Recognition. The Reading Teacher 41, 756-760.

[23] Sohn, H.-M. 1999. The Korean Language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

[24] Woods, L., W. Yund, J. Herron, and M. A. Ua Cruadhlaoich. 2010. Consonant Identification in Consonant-vowel- consonant Syllables in Speech-spectrum Noise. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 127.3, 1609-23. 10.1121/1.3293005 20329860

[25] Yun, G. 2014. Korean Listeners’ Perception of L2 English Phoneme Contrast. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 20.2, 161-185. 10.17959/sppm.2014.20.2.161

The Journal of Studies in Language ISSN:1225-4770(Print) 2671-6151(Online) 언어연구

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