The perception of English onset glides produced by Korean speakers*

Abstract

This study explores Korean learners` production of English onsets with the glide w or j by investigating native English speakers` perception of those onsets produced by Korean learners. In an experiment identifying Korean learners` production of English minimal pairs which differ in the presence or absence of the onset glide, it was found that native English speakers exhibited difficulties in perceiving Korean learners` pronunciation of the English ``w + round vowel`` and ``j + high front vowel`` sequences, which are not attested in Korean. In addition, native English speakers experienced problems perceiving Korean learners` pronunciation of the English /kw/ sequence although it occurs in Korean. It is conjectured that the combined effects of the shorter VOT with English /kw/ and w-deletion or the phonetic realization of /w/ as a secondary articulation of a preceding consonant in Korean triggered such results in our study.