Korean listeners’ processing of suprasegmental lexical contrasts in Korean and English: A cue-based transfer approach

Abstract

This study investigates whether listeners’ use of prosodic cues to lexical contrasts can transfer from one phonological phenomenon in the native (first) language (L1) to another in a second/foreign language (L2). It investigates how Gyeongsang-Korean (GK) and Seoul-Korean (SK) listeners process English lexical stress. GK does not have lexical stress but has lexical pitch accents, whereas SK has neither; GK listeners are thus hypothesized to be more sensitive to pitch as a cue to lexical contrasts than SK listeners. GK and SK listeners completed a task in which they recalled four-item sequences of Korean words differing suprasegmentally (pitch accent contrast) or segmentally (phonemic contrast). The results showed a significant L1-by-contrast-type interaction, with GK listeners outperforming SK listeners in the pitch accent contrast condition. These results confirm GK listeners’ greater sensitivity to pitch in the L1. The same GK and SK listeners, who were matched in English proficiency, and native English listeners completed a similar task with English words differing suprasegmentally (stress contrast) or segmentally (phonemic contrast). The results showed a significant L1-by-contrast-type interaction, with GK listeners outperforming SK (and English) listeners in the stress-contrast condition. These results provide robust evidence for a cue-based transfer approach to L2 lexical stress processing.