Loanword and onset consonant cluster perception by L1 Korean/L2 English speakers

The purpose of this study was to examine Korean L2 English speakers’ perception of English syllable structures containing /s/ biliteral and triliteral consonant clusters in word-initial onsets, observe the relationship between English consonant cluster perception and loanwords used in Korean, and supply quantitative analyses relative to Korean ESL learners’ perception of syllable structures that may aid in refining criteria of pedagogical practices for ESL or EFL instructors of Korean L1 students. Data was collected through perception and loanword ranking surveys administered online. They were completed by 11 respondents who are L1 speakers of Korean and L2 speakers of English with an average age of 30 years old. The perception survey was also completed by 3 native speakers of English for sake of comparison. The analysis of the surveys indicates Korean L1 perception participants heard one or more additional syllables than the native speakers for 38% of the tokens, thus for most of the tokens the Korean participants chose the same number as the native speakers. In observation of the different consonant cluster structures, the Korean L2 speakers of English were more prone to syllable count errors in triliteral consonant clusters as opposed to biliteral consonant clusters. Though Korean does not permit any consonant clusters, this evidence supports that learners struggle more with structures that are significantly more complex than licit L1 structures. In observation of the classification of loanwords, a clear pattern of how likely the participants were to employ perceptual epenthesis when counting the syllables in relation to loanword status was not detected. The present study’s findings support the notion that Korean L2 speakers of English tend to insert perceptual epenthesis in biliteral and triliteral word-initial consonant clusters beginning with /s/ regardless of a word’s loanword classification.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teaching of English Sec Lang

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Morrow, Sarah Emily

Contributors dc:contributor

• Franks, Suzanne
• Shosted, Ryan

• English language teaching
• pronunciation
• syllable perception
• epenthesis

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Sarah Morrow

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115518

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F115518