Crosslinguistic Influence in the Discrimination of Korean Stop Contrast by Heritage Speakers and Second Language Learners

Yuhyeon Seo,Olga Dmitrieva,Alejandro Cuza

doi:10.3390/languages7010006

Yuhyeon Seo, Olga Dmitrieva + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7010006

Copy DOI

Abstract

The present study examines the extent of crosslinguistic influence from English as a dominant language in the perception of the Korean lenis–aspirated contrast among Korean heritage speakers in the United States (N = 20) and English-speaking learners of Korean as a second language (N = 20), as compared to native speakers of Korean immersed in the first language environment (N = 20), by using an AX discrimination task. In addition, we sought to determine whether significant dependencies could be observed between participants’ linguistic background and experiences and their perceptual accuracy in the discrimination task. Results of a mixed-effects logistic regression model demonstrated that heritage speakers outperformed second language learners with 85% vs. 63% accurate discrimination, while no significant difference was detected between heritage speakers and first language-immersed native speakers (85% vs. 88% correct). Furthermore, higher verbal fluency was significantly predictive of greater perceptual accuracy for the heritage speakers. The results are compatible with the interpretation that the influence of English on the discrimination of the Korean laryngeal contrast was stronger for second language learners of Korean than for heritage speakers, while heritage speakers were not apparently affected by dominance in English in their discrimination of Korean lenis and aspirated stops.

Highlights

Cheon and Lee (2013) showed that non-heritage and Heritage speakers (HS) of Korean perceived Korean lenis stops as better exemplars of the English voiced than voiceless category. These findings suggest that the Korean lenis–aspirated pair can be assimilated to the English voiced and voiceless stops, respectively, by Korean–English bilinguals
The results revealed that Speaker 3 decreased perceptual accuracy compared to Speaker 2 (β = −0.68, SE = 0.17, p < 0.001) and compared to Speaker 4 (β = −0.61, SE = 0.17, p = 0.001)
We collected data from L2 learners of Korean with English as their native language in order to determine whether a similar disadvantage would be observed for this group but to a greater degree than for HSs

Summary

Introduction

Academic Editors: Christine Shea and Ji Young Kim. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Heritage speakers (HS) are defined as individuals raised in homes where a minority language is spoken, while a different language is dominantly spoken in their country of residence (Valdés 2000, 2005). According to the U.S Census Bureau (2018), there are. 1.1 million Korean HSs in the US who are, by definition, bilingual speakers (Korean and English) to some extent. They represent a distinct, and in some ways unique, category of bilinguals, the existing models of additional language acquisition can be extended to account for heritage language development.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion