Teaching pronunciation of /r/-initial words in perception and production to Korean adult learners.

摘要

The current study was devised to examine the effect of formal instruction in English pronunciation focusing on the /r/ sound examined only in initial position as in 'race' and 'ride' to Korean adults.;It is very controversial whether learners can pronounce native-like when they learn a foreign or second language after puberty. This argument was tested with Korean adults, who have difficulty in the perception and production of the /r/ sound. The participants were trained to improve the /r/ sound at the word, sentence, and free dialogue level for 10 weeks between pretest and posttest. The results show that the participants made general improvement in perception and production of /r/ initial words at each level. This finding requires interpretation and has pedagogical implications. Spectrogram analysis and assessment by native listeners of English were used to make an objective assessment of the production. Some suggestions for further studies are discussed.