• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.163-167
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• 2003

The present thesis examines the correlation of VOT and F0 in the three-way distinction of Korean obstruents, conducting production and perception tests. In the production test, one female native speaker of Korean with a Seoul dialect (the author) recorded 15 repetitions of a monosyllabic word list including /ka, kha, k*a, pa, pha, p*a, ta, tha, t*a, ca, cha, c*a/ in random order, VOT and F0 of the following vowels were measured, and the result was significant for the three-way distinction with a strong correlation between VOT and F0, and also in the VOT-F0 plot, no overlapping among the domains was observed. As for the perception test, I manipulated the data recorded in the production test, heightening or lowering their F0 values. In all, 14 subjects (seven males and seven females) participated in the identification test. The result was as follows: the fortis stimuli were not influenced by F0 changes, and the VOT and F0 values at the lenis-aspirated boundary were negatively correlated. From these results I concluded the following: 1) VOT and F0 can distinguish the three domains of Korean obstruents without overlapping; 2) the fortis perception does not need F0 as its acoustic cue; and 3) VOT and F0 in the distinction between the lenis and aspirated are in the phonetic trading relation[2].

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.53-69
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• 1996

Much research has been done on the rues differentiating the three Korean stops in word initial position. This paper focuses on a more neglected area: the acoustic cues differentiating the medial tense and lax unaspirated stops. Eight adult Korean native speakers, four males and four females, pronounced sixteen minimal pairs containing the two series of medial stops with different preceding vowel qualities. The average duration of vowels before lax stops is 31 msec longer than before their tense counterparts (70 msec for lax vs 39 msec for tense). In addition, the average duration of the stop closure of tense stops is 135 msec longer than that of lax stops (69 msec for lax vs 204msec for tense). THESE DURATIONAL DIFFERENCES ARE 50 LARGE THAT THEY MAY BE PHONOLOGICALLY DETERMINED, NOT PHONETICALLY. Moreover, vowel duration varies with the speaker's sex. Female speakers have 5 msec shorter vowel duration before both stops. The quality of voicing, tense or lax, is also a cue to these two stop types, as it is in initial position, but the relative duration of the stops appears to be much more important cues. The duration of stops changes the stop perception while that of preceding vowel does not. The consequences of these results for the phonological description of Korean as well as the synthesis and automatic recognition of Korean will be discussed.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.57-75
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• 1999

The purpose of this paper is to develop an English prosody training system using PC for Korean learners of English. The program is called Intonation Training Tool (ITT). It operates on DOS 5.0. The hardware for this program requires over IBM PC 386 with 4 MBytes main memory, SVGA (1 MByte or more) for graphic, soundblaster 16 and over 14 inch monitor size. The ITT program operates this way: the learners can listen as well as see the English teacher's stress and intonation patterns on the monitor. The learner practices the same patterns with a microphone. This program facilitates the learner's stress and intonation patterns to overlap the teacher's patterns. The learner can find his/her stress and intonation errors and correct these independently. This program is expected to be a highly efficient learning tool for Korean learners of English in their English prosody training in the English class without the aid of a native English speaker in the classroom.

• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.209-233
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to analyze the pragmatic functions of '-ketun(yo)' expressed in the discourse associating with the context of communication based on the actual conversations of Korean native speakers. As discourse is closely related to the context, contextual factors surrounding the discourse should be actively considered in order to reveal the function of grammar expressed in the discourse. Also, there is need to consider the grammatical functions in terms of the linguistic user which is the subject of interaction in the discourse. Based on this necessity, in this study, we analyzed the pragmatic functions of '-ketun(yo).' As a result, '-ketun(yo)-' had a great influence on the formation and expansion of the shared context in communication contexts. The shared context is expanded through generative mutual knowledge and priori mutual knowledge. As a result of the conversation analysis, '-ketun(yo)-' was used at a high frequency in the expansion of generative mutual knowledge formation. In addition, '-ketun(yo)-' appeared to have a discourse cohesion function that binds topics with other topics. In the case that '-ketun(yo)-' is formed through priori mutual knowledge, '-ketun(yo)-' could be used as a sign to lead the union of the speaker and the listener. This study has significance in that it examines the pragmatic functions of '-ketun(yo)-' in relation to the context of communication based on actual utterance.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.64-78
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• 2007

For Korean researchers, English is essential. In fact, this is the case for any researcher who is a non-native English speaker, as recognition and success is predicated on being published, while publications that reach the broadest audiences are in English. Unfortunately, university science and engineering programs in Korea often do not provide formal coursework to help students attain greater competence in English composition. Aggravating this situation is the general lack of literature covering this specific pedagogical issue. While there is plenty of information to help native speakers with technical writing and much covering general English composition for EFL learners, there is very little information available to help EFL learners become better technical writers. Thus, the purpose of this report is twofold. First, as most Korean educators in science and engineering are not well acquainted with pedagogical issues of EFL writing, this report provides a general introduction to some relevant issues. It reviews the importance of contrastive rhetoric as well as some considerations for choosing the appropriate teaching approach, class arrangement, and use of computer assisted learning tools. Secondly, a course proposal is discussed. Based on a review of student writing samples as well as student responses to a self-assessment questionnaire, the proposed course is intended to balance the needs of Korean EFL learners to develop grammar, process, and genre skills involved in technical writing. Although, the scope of this report is very modest, by sharing the considerations made towards the development of an EFL technical writing course it seeks to provide a small example to a field that is perhaps lacking examples.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.42
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• pp.261-283
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• 2016

The aim of this study is to consider the possibility of learning polite expressions of English using the mobile application Naver Band. To improve communicative competence, students need to develop sociolinguistic competence as well as grammatical and discourse competence. To be accordant to social context, the roles of the participants, and the purpose of the interaction, students have to make an appropriate utterance. When a hearer has a higher social status and is older than a speaker, or have low levels of familiarity, Korean native speaker tends to use polite expressions. Students need to learn polite expressions of English because English has a different honorific system from Korean. To realize the characteristics and function of polite language is one thing, but to learn it in a real classroom is another. This study attempts to apply the use of a mobile application, which is considered a user-friendly tool for students, into learning polite language using the UK historical drama, Downton Abbey. Two tests were administered to an experimental group that used the mobile application and a control group that used group work. The results of the two tests show that the use of the mobile application has a positive effect on learning polite expressions and is effective as an after-school activity. In an open-ended questionnaire, students tend to identify polite expressions as superior or high-level language forms and separate these forms from practical expressions. It should be noted as well that teachers need to consider instructing in modern English when using a historical drama in the teaching and learning of polite expressions.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.603-612
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to allow beginner level English learners to experience the English speaking task using pictures, and to analyze the meanings of the experience using a phenomenological research method. As research participants, 10 freshmen majoring in Power Generation Facilities at Korean Polytechnic University in Gangwon-do were selected. Face-to-face interviews and SNS were used for data collection, and Colaizzi's research method was adopted for data analysis. As a result of the analysis, 9 themes, 4 theme clusters, and 2 categories were derived. The results are as follows. First, the participants were able to find hope that they could speak English at their own level through the English speaking task using pictures. Second, they stated that the effect of the visual medium of painting increased concentration and curiosity and lowered anxiety. Third, it was recognized that self-confidence, a speaker like a native speaker, and quickness of speaking improved due to familiarity with speaking English. Fourth, the biggest difficulty in the English speaking task was vocabulary. So, they felt the limitation in explaining the picture, and they were having a lot of trouble in translating Korean words into English words. Finally, through the results of this study, the effect of the medium of picture was confirmed, and necessary future studies were suggested.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

The Korean polysemic ending '-(eu)lgeol' can has two different meanings, 'guess' and 'regret'. These are expressed by different boundary-tone types: a rising tone for guess, a falling one for regret. Therefore the sentence-final boundary-tone type is the most salient prosodic feature. However, besides tone type, the pitch difference between the final and penultimate syllables of '-(eu)lgeol' can also affect semantic discrimination. To investigate this aspect, we conducted a perception test using two sentences that were morphologically and syntactically identical. These two sentences were spoken using different boundary-tone types by a Korean native speaker. From these two sentences, the experimental stimuli were generated by artificially raising or lowering the pitch of the boundary syllable by 1Qt while fixing the pitch of the penultimate syllable and boundary-tone type. Thirty Korean native speakers participated in three levels of perceptual test, in which they were asked to mark whether the experimental sentences they listened to were perceived as guess or regret. The results revealed that regardless of boundary-tone types, the larger the pitch difference between the final and penultimate syllable in the positive direction, the more likely it is perceived as guess, and the smaller the pitch difference in the negative direction, the more likely it is perceived as regret.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.207-207
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• 1996

The neutral tone is one of the most important distinguishing features in Beijing Mandarin, but there are two completely different views on its linguistic function: a special tone(Xu, 1980) versus weak stress(Chao, 1968). In this paper, the acoustic manifestation of the neutral tone will be explored to show that it is closely related to weak stress. 122 disyllabic words in which the second syllable carries the neutral tone, including 22 stress pairs, were uttered by a native male speaker of Beijing dialect and analysed by Kay Digital Sonagraph 5500-1. The results of the acoustic analysis are presented as follows: 1) The first two formants of the medial and the syllabic vowel moves towards that of central vowel with a greater magnitude in the syllable with the neutral tone than in the syllable with any of the four normal tones. Also the vowel ending, and nasal coda /n/ and / / in the syllable with the neutral tone tends to be deleted. 2) In the syllables with the neutral tone, there are strong carryover coarticulations between the medial and syllabic vowel and the preceding unvoiced consonant. In general, the vowel is affected to move towards the position of the central vowel with more greater magnitude by coronal consonant than by labial or velar consonant. 3) In the syllable with the neutral tone, when and only when it precedes a syllable with tone-4, the high vowel following [f], [ts'], [s], [ts'], [s], [tc'] or [c] tends to be voiceless. 4) It can be seen from the acoustical results of 22 stress pairs that the duration of the syllable with the neutral tone is on the average reduced to 55% of that of the syllable with the four normal tones, and the duration of the final in the syllable with neutral tone is on the average reduced to 45% of that of the final in the syllable with the four normal tones(Lin & Yan 1980). 5) The FO contour of the neutral tone is highly dependent on the preceding normal tone(Lin & Yan 1993). For a number of languages it has been found that the vowel space is reduced as the level of stress placed upon the vowel is reduced(Nord 1986). Therefore we reach the conclusion that the syllable with neutral tone is related to weak stress(Lin & Yan 1990). The neutral tone is not a special tone because the preceding normal tone.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.274-274
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• 1996

This presents the preliminary results from work in progress of a paired study of the acquisition of voiceless stops by Spanish speakers learning English, and American English speakers learning Spanish. For this study the hypothesis was that the American speakers would have no difficulty suppressing the aspiration in Spanish unaspirated stops; the Spanish speakers would have difficulty acquiring the aspiration necessary for English voiceless stops, according to Eckman's Markedness Differential Hypothesis. The null hypothesis was proved. All subjects were given the same set of disyllabic real words of English and Spanish in carrier phrases. The tokens analyzed in this report are limited to word-initial voiceless stops, followed by a low back vowel in stressed syllables. Tokens were randomized and then arranged in a list with the words appearing three separate times. Aspiration was measured from the burst to the onset of voicing(VOT). Both the first language (Ll) tokens and second language (L2) tokens were compared for each speaker and between the two groups of language speakers. Results indicate that the Spanish speakers, as a group, were able to reach the accepted target language VOT of English, but English speakers were not able to reach the accepted range for Spanish, in spite of statistically significant changes of p<.OOl by speakers in both groups of learners. A closer analysis of the speech samples revealed wide variability within the speech of native speakers of English. Not only is variability in English due to the wide range of VOT (120 msecs. for English labials, for example) but individual speakers showed different patterns. These results are revealing for the demands requied in experimental designs and the number of speakers and tokens requied for an adequate description of different languages. In addition, a simple report of means will not distinguish the speakers and the respective language learning situation; measurements must also include the RANGE of acceptability of VOT for phonetic segments. This has immediate consequences for the learning and teaching of foreign languages involving aspirated stops. In addition, the labelling of spoken language in speech technology is shown to be inadequate without a fuller mathematical description.