First Advisor

John Hellermann

Term of Graduation

Summer 2024

Date of Publication

6-24-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Department

Applied Linguistics

Language

English

Subjects

L2 Korean intonation, phonology, wh-indeterminate questions

Physical Description

1 online resource (x, 66 pages)

Abstract

Wh-indeterminate questions in Korean are potentially ambiguous due to the limited use of morpho-syntactic markers. When an explicit morpheme indicating the question type is not used, the disambiguation of the question relies, primarily, on prosodic cues. Drawing from previous studies of L1 Korean, this study examines the production and perception of intonation patterns of English L1 learners of Korean for wh- and yes-no questions in Korean. That examination allows speculation on potential L1 influence in the learners' production. Five English L1 learners of Korean who received formal instruction in Korean at a U.S. university completed a production and perception test consisting of 10 dialogues featuring ambiguous wh-indeterminate questions. Their speech was analyzed for pitch range, boundary tone, and accentual phrasing. The findings revealed that L2 Korean learners are able to produce and perceive wh-questions in a more target- like manner than yes-no questions. Learners' proficiency level significantly influenced pitch peak and pitch range, with advanced learners showing a resemblance to L1 production. However, yes- no questions remained non-target-like across all proficiency levels. Additionally, there was evidence of L1 influence from English in boundary tone choices and pitch ranges, as well as inconsistency in accentual phrasing. These results suggest an interplay between language proficiency and L2 prosody and emphasize the need to incorporate targeted prosodic training within the curriculum for Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language.

Rights

© 2024 Jung In Lee

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42438

Download

Share

COinS