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KMID : 0917520050120010075
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Journal of Speech Sciences
2005 Volume.12 No. 1 p.75 ~ p.87
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Korean Listeners’ Perception of English /i/, /I/, and //
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Yun Yung-Do
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Abstract
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In this study I investigate how native Korean listeners perceive English vowels /i/, /I/, and //. I extend Flege et al’s (1997) study with synthesized /i/-/I/ and /I/-// continua, and apply the results to Flege’s (1995) Speech Learning Model (SLM). The statistical results show that native speakers of English rely more on spectral steps than on vowel duration when they identify the /i/-/I/ continuum, whereas native speakers of Korean rely more on vowel duration than on spectral steps when they identify the same continuum. In the case of the /I/-// continuum, both groups rely on spectral steps when they identify the //, which supports the SLM; Koreans identified the // categorically since Korean has the equivalent vowel. However, there was not statistical difference between Korean subjects with more English experience (KE) and those with less English experience in the identification of both continua. This contradicts the SLM, which posits that experienced L2 learners are better than inexperienced L2 learners in perception of L2 sounds. The exact nature of this should be further investigated in the SLM.
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KEYWORD
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Korean, perception, English, front vowel
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