한국인 미국영어 학습자들이 발화한 단어 말 영어 /ɹ/의 조음적 특징

Articulatory characteristics of word-final English /ɹ/ produced by Korean learners of American English

Most studies on the articulatory characteristics of English /ɹ/ have been conducted with native speakers of English, and few studies have been conducted with L2 learners of English. This study examines the articulatory characteristics of word-final English /ɹ/ produced by Korean learners of American English (AE) using novel 3D/4D ultrasound imaging methods. 10 female Korean learners of AE participated in this study, and the tongue shapes of their English /ɹ/ were observed using 3D/4D ultrasound technology. The results of this study show that, unlike native speakers of AE, the Korean learners of AE exhibited more retroflex tongue shapes than bunched tongue shapes, and this seems to be related to the articulatory characteristics of Korean [l] and the pronunciation training they received. In addition, the results of this study revealed great inter-speaker variation with regard to the articulation of English /ɹ/. Even though the majority of participants in this study showed retroflex articulation, the place of articulation and tongue shape varied greatly across speakers.