Orthographic influence on resyllabification errors by Vietnamese learners of Korean: A speech corpus study

Orthographic influence on resyllabification errors by Vietnamese learners of Korean: A speech corpus study

This study investigates resyllabification errors made by Vietnamese learnersof Korean, utilizing an L2 speech corpus known as “A Collection of Foreigners’ KoreanSpeech Data for AI Training”. By analyzing the read-aloud and spontaneous speech datafrom 40 Vietnamese L1 speakers in the corpus, we discovered that the error rate was higherin script reading than in spontaneous speech. We propose the rigid syllable boundary inVietnamese L1 phonology, contrasting with the fluid syllable boundary in Korean L2 phonology,results in a negative transfer, causing Vietnamese learners’ difficulty in resyllabification whenspeaking Korean. Furthermore, the orthographic rigidity of syllable boundary of the Koreanwriting system presents negative orthographic input for Vietnamese learners, whose orthography(Roman alphabet) allows for syllabic ambiguity. Consequently, speakers tend to produce moreerrors in script reading with such orthographic input than in spontaneous speech. We concludethe disparity between the phonological fluidity and the orthographic rigidity of Korean syllablescontributes to failure of resyllabification among Vietnamese speakers.