• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.35-46
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• 2021

In this study, we examined the interactive aspects between pitch reduction phenomena considered a universal language phenomenon and native language interference in the production of L2 intonation performed by Chinese learners of Korean. To investigate their interaction, we conducted an acoustic analysis using acoustic measures such as pitch span, pitch level, pitch dynamic quotient, skewness, and kurtosis. In addition, the correlation between text comprehension and pitch was examined. The analyzed material consisted of four Korean discourses containing five and seven sentences of varying difficulty. Seven Korean native speakers and thirty Chinese learners who differed in their Korean proficiency participated in the production test. The results, for differences by language, showed that Chinese had a more expanded pitch span, and a higher pitch level than Korean. The analysis between groups showed that at the beginner and intermediate levels, pitch reduction was prominent, i.e., their Korean was characterized by a compressed pitch span, low pitch level, and less sentence internal pitch variation. Contrariwise, the pitch use of advanced speakers was most similar to Korean native speakers. There was no significant correlation between text difficulty and pitch use. Through this study, we observed that pitch reduction was more pronounced than native language interference in the phonetic layer.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.19-33
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• 2019

This paper examines the perception of Korean phonemes by Egyptian learners of Korean and presents the learnability gradient of Korean consonants and vowels through High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT). 50 Egyptian learners of Korean (27 low proficiency learners and 23 high proficiency learners) participated in 10 sessions of HVPT for Korean vowels, word initial and final consonants. Participants were tested on their identification ability of Korean vowels, word initial consonants, and syllable codas before and after the training. The results showed that both low and high proficiency groups did benefit from the training. Low proficiency learners showed a higher improvement rate than high proficiency learners. Based on the HVPT results, a learnability gradient was established to give insights into priorities in teaching Korean sounds to Egyptian learners.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.23-34
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• 2021

This study aims to discuss how Egyptian learners of Korean perceive and categorize Korean vowels, how Koreans perceive Korean vowels they pronounce, and how Egyptian learners' Korean vowel categorization affects their perception and production of Korean vowels. In Experiment 1, 53 Egyptian learners were asked to listen to Korean test words pronounced by Koreans and choose the words they had listened to among 4 confusable words. In Experiment 2, 117 sound files (13 test words×9 Egyptian learners) recorded by Egyptian learners were given to Koreans and asked to select the words they had heard among 4 confusable words. The results of the experiments show that "new" Korean vowels that do not have categorizable ones in Egyptian Arabic easily formed new categories and were therefore well identified in perception and relatively well pronounced, but some of them were poorly produced. However, Egyptian learners poorly distinguished "similar" Korean vowels in perception, but their pronunciation was relatively well identified by native Koreans. Based on the results of this study, we argued that the Speech Learning Model (SLM) and Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) explain the L2 speech perception well, but they are insufficient to explain L2 speech production and therefore need to be revised and extended to L2 speech production.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.17-26
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• 2023

This study aimed to reveal how Vietnamese adult learners at three different proficiency levels perceive Korean word-initial obstruents and whether errors can be corrected through perceptual training. To this end, 105 Vietnamese beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners were given perceptual training on Korean word-initial. The training materials were created by actively utilizing Korean minimal pairs as natural stimuli recorded by native speakers. Learners in the experimental group performed five 20-40 minute self-directed perceptual training sessions over a period of approximately two weeks, while learners in the control group only participated in the pretest and posttest. The results showed a significant improvement in the perception of sounds that were difficult to distinguish before training, and both beginners and advanced learners benefited from the training. This study confirmed that large-scale perceptual training can play an important role in helping Vietnamese learners learn the appropriate acoustic cues to distinguish different sounds in Korean.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.27-35
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Chinese on the production of Korean rhythm. Korean and Chinese are typologically classified into different rhythmic categories; because of this, the phonological properties of Korean and Chinese are similar and different at the same time. As a result, Chinese can exert both positive and negative influences on the realization of Korean rhythm. To investigate the influence of the rhythm of the native language of L2 learners on their target language, we conducted an acoustic analysis using acoustic metrics like of the speech of 5 Korean native speakers and 10 advanced Chinese Korean learners. The analyzed material is a short paragraph of five sentences containing a variety of syllable structures. The results showed that KS and CS rhythms are similar in %V, VarcoV, and nPVI_S. However, CS, unlike KS, showed characteristics closer to those of a stress-timed language in the values of %V and VarcoV. There was also a significant difference in nPVI_V values. These results demonstrate a negative influence of the native language in the realization of Korean rhythm. This can be attributed to the fact that all vowels in Chinese sentence are not pronounced with the same emphasis due to neutral tone. In this sense, this study allowed us to observe influences of L1 on L2 production of rhythm.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.27-36
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• 2014

This study provided longitudinal examination of the Chinese learners' acquisition of Korean vowels. Specifically, I examined the Chinese learners' Korean monophthongs /i, e, ɨ, ${\Lambda}$, a, u, o/ that were created at the time of 1 month and 12 months, tried to verify empirically how they learn by dealing with their mother tongue, and Korean vowels through dealing with pattern of the Perceptual Assimilation Model (henceforth PAM) of Best (Best, 1993; 1994; Best & Tyler, 2007) and the Speech Learning Model (henceforth SLM) of Flege (Flege, 1987; Bohn & Flege, 1992, Flege, 1995). As a result, most of the present results are shown to be similarly explained by the PAM and SLM, and the only discrepancy between these two models is found in the 'similar' category of sounds between the learners' native language and the target language. Specifically, the acquisition pattern of /u/ and /o/ in Korean is well accounted for the PAM, but not in the SLM. The SLM did not explain why the Chinese learners had difficulty in acquiring the Korean vowel /u/, because according to the SLM, the vowel /u/ in Chinese (the native language) is matched either to the vowel /u/ or /o/ in Korean (the target language). Namely, there is only a one-to-one matching relationship between the native language and the target language. In contrast, the Chinese learners' difficulty for the Korean vowel /u/ is well accounted for in the PAM in that the Chinese vowel /u/ is matched to the vowel pair /o, u/ in Korean, not the single vowel, /o/ or /u/.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.14 no.3 s.24
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• pp.97-109
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• 1975

In an attempt to develop an effective integrated system of controlling blast disease of rice caused by Pyricularia oryzae Cav., the possibility of minimizing the disease incidence by proper application of fertilizers has been investigated. Thus the effect of silicate, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers on the development of blast disease as well as the correlation between the rice varieties an4 strains of P. oryzae were studied. The experiments were made in 1971 and 1973 by artificial inoculation and under natural development of the blast disease on rice plants. The results obtained are summarized as follows. 1. Application of silicate fertilizer resulted in the increase of silicate as well as total sugar and potassium content but decrease of total nitrogen and phosphorus in tile leaf blades of rice plants. 2. The ratios of total C/total N. $ SiO_2/total$ N, and $K_2O/total$ N in leaf blades of rice plants increased by the application of silicate fertilizers. There was high level of negative correlation between the ratios mentioned above and the incidence of rice blast disease. 3. Application of silicate fertilizer reduced the incidence of rice blast disease. 4. The over dressing of nitrogen fertilizer resulted in the increase of total nitrogen and decrease of silicate and total sugar content in leaf blades, thus disposing the rice plants more susceptible to blast disease. 5. Over dressing of phosphorus fertilizer resulted in the increase of both total nitrogen and Phosphorus, and decrease of silicate content in the leaf blades inducing the rice plants to become more susceptible to blast disease. 6. Increased dressing of potash resulted in the increase of silicate content and $K_2O/total$ N ratio but decrease of total nitrogen content in leaf blades. When potassium content is low in the leaf blades of rice plants, the additional dressing of potash to rice plant contributed to the increase of resistance to blast disease. However, there was no significant correlation between additional potassium application and the resistance to blast disease when the potassium content is already high in the leaf blades. 7. When four rice varieties were artificially inoculated with three strains of P. oryzae, the incidence of blast disease was most severe on Pungok, least severe on Jinheung and moderate on Pungkwang and Paltal varieties. 8. Disease incidence was most severe on the second leaf from top and less sever on top and there leaf regardless of the fertilizer application when 5-6 leaf stage rice seedlings of four rice varieties were artificially inoculated with three strains of P. oryzae. 9. The pathogenicity of three strains of P. oryzae was in the order of $P_1,\;P_2,\;and\;P_3$ in their virulence when inoculated to Jinheung, Paltal, Pungkwang varieties but not with Pungok. The interaction between strains of P. oryzae and rice varieties was significant.