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http://dx.doi.org/10.5392/JKCA.2021.21.05.285

Perception and Production of American English Vowels by Korean University Students  

Cho, Mi-Hui (경기대학교 영어영문학과)
Publication Information
The Journal of the Korea Contents Association / v.21, no.5, 2021 , pp. 285-294 More about this Journal
Abstract
Motivated by the mixed results in the previous studies on the relationship between speech production and perception, the current study aims to investigate the relationship between production and perception in depth through a case study on how Korean EFL university students produce and perceive American English vowels. To this end, 19 Korean students at a university located in the Seoul-metropolitan area participated in the production and perception tests on American English vowels to elucidate the precedence relationship and the correlation between production and perception. Results showed that precedence of neither perception nor production was found in the overall result. However, either precedence of perception or production was found for the vowels [ɛ], [α], [ɔ], [u], which implies that the precedence relationship between production and perception varies depending on individual vowels. As for the correlation between production and perception, no correlation was attested between production and perception, suggesting that production and perception skills are not closely linked for these participants. Given that mastering language requires to coordinate two distinct production and perception skills and that L2 learners' preception and production skills become more closely connected as the learners' L2 experience and proficiency increases, no correlation between production and perception attested by the current EFL students implies that the correlation between production and perception varies during the course of foreign language/L2 acquisition in such a way that production and perception skills become increasingly related. Implications of the findings were further discussed and pedagogical suggestions were provided.
Keywords
American English Vowels; Precedence of Perception Over Production; Precedence of Production Over Perception; Correlation between Production and Perceptio; EFL Learners;
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