The purpose of this study lies in identifying correlation between perception and pronunciation of Korean word-initial stops by Chinese learners, contemplating the acoustic features of Korean word-initial stops pronounced by Chinese learners, and lastl...
The purpose of this study lies in identifying correlation between perception and pronunciation of Korean word-initial stops by Chinese learners, contemplating the acoustic features of Korean word-initial stops pronounced by Chinese learners, and lastly comparing and analyzing the pronunciations of Korean word-initial stops by Chinese with those of Korean native speakers. Unlike many languages that have generally two types of stops, Korean has three-way contrasts: lax, tense and aspirated. Such unique feature often becomes a big barrier for foreigners to learn Korean stops, and there have been many studies demonstrating that Chinese learners also have difficulties in learning Korean stops. However, some studies state that Chinese learners find it difficult to distinguish lax from aspirated, while others conclude that Chinese learners have more difficulties in differentiating lax from tense. In addition, it is hard to find any study which examines pronunciation aspect or correlation between perception and production. Hence, this study focuses on analyzing the correlation between perception and outcome, as well as the patterns of pronunciation errors.
First, in order to figure out the perception and production patterns of Chinese learners concerning Korean word-initial stops, we conducted listening test and speech recording for each learning stage. The result is that the highest perception was found in tense and recognition of lax and aspirated were lower. And more perception mistakes were observed in distinguishing lax from aspirated than from tense. As for aspirated, Chinese learners appeared to have more difficulty in distinguishing aspirated from lax rather than tense. When it comes to tense, both beginning and intermediate level learners showed high perception of 80% or more on average, but the opposite was observed in production, implying that high perception does not automatically lead to accuracy or easiness of production.
Such errors in perception and production result from the system of Chinese stops. Chinese stops are divided into two: aspirated and unaspirated depending on [aspirated]. Chinese learners sensitively react to [aspirated] out of phonetic properties. Therefore, Chinese learners match both lax(pronounced with weak breathing) and aspirated (produced with strong breathing) to aspirated, while they match tense to unaspirated. As a result, distinguishing lax from aspirated often leads to perception errors. And the perception of tense was relatively higher since Chinese learners match tense to unaspirated one-on-one. When it comes to production, however, the pronunciation of lax and aspirated appear to be easier since lax and aspirated adopt [aspirated] which is familiar phonetic property to Chinese learners.
Next, I performed speech recording, in order to examine the acoustic features of word-initial stops produced by Chinese learners and to compare them with those pronounced by Korean native speakers. Out of recorded speech, I collected only specific words with word-initial stops and created a new word file, to measure and analyze VOT and FO of segmented initial consonants by utilizing waveform, spectrogram, and pitch curve. According to the test, Korean native speakers turned out to use both VOT and FO in order to distinguish three types of stops. Tense was differentiated from the other two via VOT, while lax was distinguished from the others by FO. However, Chinese learners could differentiate three types of stops only through VOT, while FO didn't seem to contribute much to distinction of phonation types. Such result was more apparent in Chinese learners at lower learning level and in female than male learners.
Based on the result, I suggest education plans depending on phonation types so that Chinese learners learn Korean word-initial stops. Since FO is identified as a major discriminating parameter, I reason that it is important to help Chinese actively utilize FO. In the context, I suggest education plans which connects Chinese intonations with FO of Korean stops. Furthermore, since the easiness of perception and production is different depending on phonation types, I suggest that perception study should precede for the learning of lax and aspirated, while production study should be a preceding condition for the learning of tense.
The significance of this study lies in that it looks into the correlation between perception and production of Korean word-initial stops, and the patterns of perception and production mistakes made by Chinese learners, thereby examining whether easier perception leads to the higher accuracy or easiness of production. It is also meaningful that the study suggests education plans depending on phonation types, and it compares the acoustic features of Korean word-initial stops pronounced by Chinese learners with those produced by Korean native speakers, thereby identifying difference between the two, and suggesting the ways for Chinese learners to learn Korean stops properly.
참고문헌 (Reference)
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