음성 분석을 통한 초등영어 학습자의 영어 리듬 패턴 고찰

An acoustic analysis on the rhythm pattern of English of Korean primary students

The present study investigated the rhythm pattern of English of Korean primary students by examining the differences both in proficiency levels and in parts of speech. The subjects were 18 fourth graders and two native speaking students. They read 12 sentences aloud, which were progressively modified by adding a variety of pronouns, auxiliary verbs, and articles. The study first measured the duration of the sentences spoken by the native English speaking subjects to establish base values. The duration values of the three levels of Korean students were then measured against these base values in order to find the duration ratios. Although the highest level students demonstrated a notably smaller increase in duration ratios than their lower level counterparts, the results showed that their duration values were still significantly higher than those of the native speakers. With respect to the degree of weakening by parts of speech, the Korean students showed duration ratios in the following order, from highest to lowest: pronouns, auxiliary verbs, articles, and prepositions, whereas the native speaking students' order was: auxiliary verbs, pronouns, articles, and prepositions. It was concluded that the rhythm pattern of Korean students was very different from that of native speakers and there were significant differences depending on the proficiency levels of the students.