L2 Production of Non-contrastive Sounds in L1

This paper investigates L2 production of particular sounds which are not contrastive in LI. L2 production data of nonce words by adult Korean learners of English were collected along with production of native speakers of English. Specifically, L2 production of English [s] and [J] were compared with [z] and [3] in order to answer the question of whether the relative similarity or difference with L I and L2 sounds or the absence of phonological features would create learning difficulty to L2 leamers. In doing so, both common and different acoustic characteristics between Korean L2 learners of English and native speakers of English were examined. According to the results, L2 learners showed better production with [s] and [J], non-contrastive but allophonic sounds of the same phoneme in LI. Learners experienced more difficulty with [z] and [3], non-contrastive and non-occurring sounds in LI.