• Speech Sciences
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.33-51
• /
• 2008

Difference of learner speech and loanword phonology is investigated in terms of Korean learners' speech and their loanword adaptation of English words with a post-vocalic word-final stop. When we compared the speech of 12 Korean learners in mid-intermediate level with that of eight English speakers, the learner speech did not reflect loanword phonology of the vowel insertion after a voiced word-final stop (e.g., rib$[\dotplus]$, bad$[\dotplus]$, gag$[\dotplus]$ vs. tip[=], cat[=], book[=]), but, instead, the target phonology of vowel lengthening before a voiced word-final stop (e.g., rib[r.I:b], CAD$[k{\ae}:d]$, bag$[b{\ae}:g]$ vs. rip[rI.p], cat$[k{\ae}t]$, back$[b{\ae}k])$. A longitudinal study of learner speech before and after instruction showed some development toward the acquisition of target phonology. The results indicate that learner speech departs from loanword phonology, and approaches to target speech in a faster rate than direct ratio. Thus, native phonology predicts loanword phonology, but lends little support to learner speech. Our results also indicate that loanword phonology is constant, while learner speech changes toward the acquisition of target phonology.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• no.1
• /
• pp.21-42
• /
• 1995

The purpose of this study is to point out that the segment-based study on child phonological acquisition is not sufficient in accounting for the ever-changing dynamic development of child phonology and to attempt to explain child phonology in terms of syllable-based theory of phonology, one of various types of non -linear phonology which have been studied since the late 1970's. According to Gruber's observation. it is obvious that children perceive their own concept of syllable even at the early stage of babbling. In addition, the statistical data show that the CV-type syllable is most frequently used in child phonology. These evidences seem to suffice to conclude that the CV-type syllable is the most unmarked of all four core syllable types in the sense of Clements & Keyser(1983). Starting with this observation, it is further argued that in child phonology the markedness of syllable types increases in the order of CV, CVC, VC and V.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.1 no.3
• /
• pp.3-18
• /
• 2009

Do loanword properties emerge in the acquisition of a foreign language and if so, how? Classic studies in adult language learning assumed loanword properties that range from near-ceiling to near-chance level of appearance depending on speech proficiency. The present research argues that such variations reflect different phonological types, rather than speech proficiency. To investigate the difference between learner speech and loanword phonology, the current research analyzes the speech data from five different proficiency levels of 92 Korean speakers who read 19 pairs of English words and sentences that contained loanwords. The experimental method is primarily an acoustical one, by which the phonological cause in the loanwords (e.g., the insertion of [$\Box$] at the end of the word stamp) would be attested to appear in learner speech, in comparison with native speech from 11 English speakers and 11 Korean speakers. The data investigated for the research are of segment deletion, insertion, substitution, and alternation in both learner speech and the native speech. The results indicate that learner speech does not present the loanword properties in many cases, but depends on the types of phonological causes. The relatively easy acquisition of target pronunciation is evidenced in the cases of segment deletion, insertion, substitution, and alternation, except when the loanword property involves the successful command of the target phonology such as the de-aspiration of [p] in apple. Such a case of difficult learning draws a sharp distinction from the cases of easy learning in the development of learner speech, particularly beyond the intermediate level of proficiency. Overall, learner speech departs from loanword phonology and develops toward the native speech value, depending on phonological contrasts in the native and foreign languages.

• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
• /
• v.3 no.4
• /
• pp.527-545
• /
• 2003

I look at the respective responsibilities of different components of the language faculty in the description of two radically different kinds of linguistic phenomenon. The first is the production/perception mismatch in the child's acquisition of the phonology of its first language. There is strong evidence that the child's lexical representations are the same as the adult's, but I argue that the child's own pronunciations, have no linguistic status and are best treated as the product of a neural network. The second is the nature of compositionality, where I argue that compositionality in Natural Language is derivative from that in the Language of Thought. With this assumption and using evidence from quantification in ‘backward control’ structures, I argue that chain theory is intrinsically inimical to a simple view of the legibility relation between LF and LoT.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
• /
• 2000.07a
• /
• pp.364-364
• /
• 2000

It has been widely discussed in phonology that syllable structure of mother tongue influences one's acquisition of foreign language. However, the topic was hardly examined experimentally. So, we investigated effects of Korean syllable structure when Korean speakers pronounce English words, especially focusing on consonant strings that are not allowed in Korean. In the experiment, all the subjects are divided into 3 groups, that is, native, experienced, and inexperienced speakers. Native group consists of 1 male English native speaker. Experienced and inexperienced are each composed of 3 male Korean speakers. These 2 groups are divided by the length of residence in the country using English as a native language. 41 mono-syllable words are prepared considering the position (onset vs. coda), characteristic (stops, affricates, fricatives), and number of consonant. Then, the length of the consonant cluster is measured. To eliminate tempo effect, the measured length is normalized using the length of the word 'say' in the carrier sentence. Measurement of consonant cluster is the relative time period between the initiation of energy (onset I coda) which is acoustically representative of noise (consonant portion) and voicing. bar (vowel portion) in a syllable. Statistical method is used to estimate the differences among 3 groups. For each word, analysis of variance (ANDY A) and Post Hoc tests are carried out.