The phonological preparation unit in the production of English words by Korean learners

Abstract

This study investigated how speakers of two languages differing in phonological preparation unit in planning spoken words encode a functional unit of their second language (L2). It was shown that the first phoneme of a word is a functional unit in English, whereas Korean has a strong syllable but not onset phoneme effects. Two groups of native Korean speakers depending on their length of residence in English-speaking countries were asked to name pictures in English, and the names shared the same onsets, rhymes, or had nothing systematically in common. The results showed that 1) no onset effect was shown regardless of length of residence, suggesting that L2 learners’ phonological preparation unit is influenced by their native language functional unit; and 2) there was a rhyme interference effect regardless of length of residence, probably due to lexical competition. However, upon close inspection of the results of individual speakers, L2 learners are able to attend to the target language unit if they are extensively exposed to L2 phonology.