한국인 영어학습자의 영어 모음 발화 분석: 음향 분석과 발화이해도에 관한 비교 연구

초록

This study examined Korean ESL (English as a Second Language) learners’ production of English vowels (/i/, /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ɑ/, /ʌ/, /ɔ/, /u/), focusing on the acoustic properties of the vowels and speech intelligibility. Twenty-three Korean ESL learners, divided into two groups based on their English-learning experiences (high-proficiency group vs. intermediate-proficiency group), completed a vowel production task in which the first and second formant values (F1, F2) of vowels were measured and compared to the productions of native English speakers. Another group of native English listeners evaluated the speech intelligibility of Korean ESL learners’ production of English vowels. Furthermore, the correlation between the acoustic properties of the English vowels and speech intelligibility was investigated. The results showed that F1, F2 distribution patterns and speech intelligibility patterns were somewhat different according to the native English speaker group, the high-proficiency group, and the intermediate-proficiency group. The acoustic properties, especially F1, tended to influence the speech intelligibility but the correlation between them was varied according to vowel types and Korean ESL learners’ English-learning experiences.

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