• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.11-20
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this study is to compare the acoustic parameters of English stop consonants at the initial and after-initial-/s/ positions in a message produced by 47 Korean and American speakers in order to provide better pronunciation skills of English stops for Korean learners. A Praat script was developed to obtain voice onset time (VOT), maximum consonant intensity (maxCi), and rate of rise (ROR) from six target words with stops at the positions in the message. Results show that VOT and maxCi were significantly different between the two language groups while ROR wasn't. The Korean speakers generally produced the stop consonants with longer VOTs and higher consonant intensity. From the comparison of consonant groups at the two different positions, the Korean participants did not distinguish them as clearly as the American participants did at the after-initial-/s/ position. Finally a comparison of each language and sex group revealed that the major difference was attributed to stop consonants in the after-/s/ position. The author concluded that Korean speakers should be careful not to produce all the stops with longer VOTs and higher intensity. Further studies would be desirable to examine how Americans evaluate Korean speakers' English proficiency with modified acoustic values of English stops.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.53-62
• /
• 2016

In this study, we examined whether Chinese learners of Korean can correctly produce the phonological process on the lexical and post-lexical level. For this purpose 4 Korean native speakers and 10 advanced and 10 intermediate Chinese learners of Korean participated in the production test. The materials analyzed constituted 10 Korean sentences in which nasalization can be applied on the syllable boundary, word boundary(w-boundary) as well as accentual phrase boundary(AP-boundary). The results show that for Korean speakers, nasalization was applied 100% at all level whereas for Chinese speakers, the rate of application of nasalization is different according to prosodic constituents and Korean proficiency. Nasalization was more frequently applied at the lexical level than the post-lexical level, and it is more frequent in the w-boundary conditions than in the AP-boundary conditions. However, the rate of nasalization in the w-boundary is close to the lexical level. The pronunciation errors were committed either as non application of nasalization or coda obstruent ommission. In the case of non application of nasalization, Chinese learners of Korean produced the target syllables as underling forms, which were not transformed as surface forms. In addition, we can observe the ommission of coda obstruents in 'lenis obstruents+nasal sound' sequences. As a result, nasalization is blocked by this omission.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.40 no.5
• /
• pp.299-304
• /
• 2016

The importance of clear and effective communication at sea has been greatly emphasized due to the increase in multiculturalism on board both ocean-going and coastal vessels, and the necessity of systematic English training based on 'Knowledge, Understanding, and Proficiency' specified in STCW has also been recognized. With these growing needs in mind, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) updated the Maritime English (ME) Model Course 3.17 in 2015 by providing guidelines on language education within two separate categories, General Maritime English (GME) and Specialized Maritime English (SME). The IMO is now attempting to create a new, global framework of ME education and training, and this this new course model must first be thoroughly understood in order to explore the ways to apply the modified version into the context of current ME education in Korea and to design an updated language curriculum. Therefore, the general structural features of the new model course will be explained in this paper, and the course focus set by IMO and to be considered and/or adopted by the Republic of Korea will be closely examined. Finally, suggestions will be made on how to implement this revised model course in practice with the following focus: the development of localized curriculum for GME and SME; the provision of practical teaching guidance through relevant online and offline materials for class and self-study; and the establishment of qualification guidelines and a teaching support system for language teachers in maritime and language education.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
• /
• v.27
• /
• pp.415-434
• /
• 2012

The Hanja used in Korean are traditional Chinese characters, but what Chinese people use now is simplified characters. So, there are differences in pronunciation and meaning between the characters used by Korean and Chinese. More than 70% of the Korean language vocabulary derived from or were influenced by hanja. For the inheritance and development of traditional culture,and for the communication among countries of the Chinese characters cultural circle in Northeast Asia, should we build up an authentic Chinese education system. But the government hasn't pay much attention to this work, and the government's policy can't implement the efficient education. Consequently, in these days, there are more and more Korean people who are functionally illiterate in Chinese. Recently, proficiency tests of Chinese characters are expected to promote the development of Chinese education. But, most Koreans' motives for Chinese study are usually to pass the college entrance exam or to compete for jobs. However, after passing the test, the motive for studying gradually fade away. It is the basic problem faced by Korean Chinese character education. Since the 1950s, various character education methods have been studied in China, the research results were appliedin their textbooks and other materials. Therefore, a well-organized and efficient learning-by-step education system was built up. At present, China's literacy education in the textbooks utilizes a range of methods including revisional centralized and distributed. Unfortunately, there is still one shortcoming worthy of concerns: how to solve the problems due to the simplification of traditional Chinese characters? Is it possible to revive traditional Chinese characters? Before adopting the results of research on China's literacy education and applying them to our character education, we should consider our specific situation carefully. Adopting the research results with cautious review and objective criticism should have a positive impact on Korean Chinese character education.