The Perception of Korean Stops by Heritage and Non-heritage Learners: Pedagogical Implications for Beginning Learners

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article presents the results from a study of the perception of three-way stop contrasts in Korean by beginning HL and non-HL of Korean. It was expected that American English learners of Korean would have difficulty perceiving the Korean stops because the three-way Korean stop contrast is not found in English. The conclusion is that early HL exposure resulted in better perceptual performance as an adult; also, bilabial stops were perceived better than velar stops or denti-alveolar stops. Pedagogically, HL leaners would need different instructional materials or pedagogical approaches from non-HL leaners. The study focused solely on perception. Nevertheless, we conclude that utilizing production-based as well as perception-based activities will help learners become more aware of the subtle differences that exist between English and Korean stop sounds.