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Effects of age of L2 acquisition and L2 experience on the production of English vowels by Korean speakers

  • Eunhae Oh (Department of English Language and Literature, Konkuk University) ;
  • Eunyoung Shin (Department of English Language and Literature, Konkuk University)
  • Received : 2023.07.03
  • Accepted : 2023.09.01
  • Published : 2023.09.30

Abstract

The current study investigated the influence of age of L2 acquisition (AOA) and length of residence (LOR) in the L2 setting country on the production of voicing-conditioned vowel duration and spectral qualities in English by Korean learners. The primary aim was to explore the ways in which the language-specific phonetic features are acquired by the age of onset and L2 experience. Analyses of the archived corpus data produced by 45 native speakers of Korean showed that, regardless of AOA or LOR, absolute vowel duration was used as a salient correlate of voicing contrast in English for Korean learners. The accuracy of relative vowel duration was influenced more by onset age than by L2 experience, suggesting that being exposed to English at an early age may benefit the acquisition of temporal dimension. On the other hand, the spectral characteristics of English vowels were more consistently influenced by L2 experience, indicating that immersive experience in the L2 speaking environment are likely to improve the accurate production of vowel quality. The distinct influence of the onset age and L2 experience on the specific phonetic cues in L2 vowel production provides insight into the intricate relationship between the two factors on the manifestation of L2 phonological knowledge.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This paper was supported by Konkuk University in 2022.

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