Abstract
To better understand how foreign accentedness is reflected in speech rhythm, the present study examined rhythm patterns in English speech produced by Korean learners of English who learn English as a foreign language. By adopting vocalic-based rhythm metrics such as %V, VarcoV, nPVI-V, the rhythm differences between 32 Korean learners of English and 16 native speakers from North America were compared. Statistical results revealed that %V scores for the weakly accented speech did not differ from that for the strongly accented speech. VarcoV and nPVI-N scores for Korean ESL speakers differed as a function of foreign accent strength. Weakly accented speech group showed significantly lower degree of syllable-timed than strongly accented speech in terms of the two rhythm metrics. These results indicate that rhythm patterns contribute to the native speaker’s perception of foreign accentedness.
Published Version
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