The pronunciation of English sentences by Korean children and adults

Abstract

This study examined English sentences produced by four groups of native Korean subjects (18 each) who differed according to mean age (children=12 years, adults=32 years) and length of residence in North America (means=3 vs 5 years). A delayed repetition technique was used to elicit English sentences at Time 1 and one year later at Time 2. Native English-speaking listeners used a 9-point scale to rate the sentences for overall degree of foreign accent. The ratings obtained for the native Korean (NK) subjects were converted to z-scores using the mean ratings and standard deviations obtained for sentences produced by control groups of Native children and adults. As expected, analyses of the standardized ratings revealed that the NK children produced the sentences with milder foreign accents than the NK adults did at both Time 1 and Time 2. Unexpectedly, the adult–child difference was larger at Time 2 than Time 1 because the NK children’s foreign accents diminished whereas the NK adults’ foreign accents grew significantly stronger from Time 1 to Time 2. Possible explanations for this are age-related differences in motivation, English input, or the strength of influence of Korean phonetic structures on the English sound system.