Phonetics and Speech Sciences (말소리와 음성과학)

Korean Society of Speech Sciences (한국음성학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

An analysis of listening errors by Korean EFL learners from self-paced passage dictation

  • Cho, Hyesun (Department of Education, Dankook University)
  • Received : 2021.01.31
  • Accepted : 2021.03.13
  • Published : 2021.03.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

In this study, listening errors by Korean EFL learners are comprehensively analyzed from self-paced passage dictation tasks. Fifty-five Korean EFL learners participated in the study. Listeners were asked to write down dictation passages as accurately as possible, while listening to the audio as much as they needed. The results show that (i) low-proficiency learners tend to misperceive longer phrases than high-proficiency learners, (ii) function words are more often omitted or misheard than content words, and (iii) low-proficiency learners have more difficulties with content words than high-proficiency learners do. Most frequent suffix errors were omissions of past or plural suffixes. Among the function words, the most frequent errors were found with auxiliary contractions, infinitive marker to, and articles, mostly in the environment of linking and elision. It is also shown that C-V linking, C-C linking, and elision are the primary sources for the most frequent errors. C-V linking led to errors in correctly locating the word boundary, while C-C linking and elision resulted in omission. These errors show that Korean EFL listeners have difficulties in detecting fine-grained phonetic details to the extent that native speakers can do.

Keywords

References

  1. Altenberg, E. P. (2005). The perception of word boundaries in a second language. Second Language Research, 21(4), 325-358. https://doi.org/10.1191/0267658305sr250oa
  2. Best, C. T. (1995). A direct realistic view of cross-language speech perception. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: issues in cross-language research (pp. 171-206). Baltimore, MD: York Press.
  3. Celce-Murcia, M., Donna, B., & Goodwin, J. M. (2010). Teaching pronunciation: a course book and reference guide. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  4. Chang, C., & Chang, C. K. (2014). Developing students' listening metacognitive strategies using online videotext self-dictation-generation learning activity. The EUROCALL Review, 22(1), 3-19. https://doi.org/10.4995/eurocall.2014.3636
  5. Choung, Y. A. (2014). Listening difficulties and problems in using listening strategies for EFL high school students. The Journal of Modern British and American Language and Literature, 32(4), 75-102. https://doi.org/10.21084/jmball.2014.11.32.4.75
  6. Desmerules-Trudel, F. (2018). Spoken word recognition in native and second language Canadian French: Phonetic detail and representation of vowel nasalization (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON.
  7. Educational Testing Service [ETS]. (2018). TOEIC Kichwul Kongsik Conghapse LC [TOEIC official test preparation book LC]. Seoul, Korea: YBM.
  8. Hagiwara, A., & Kuzumaki, Y. (1982). An analysis of errors in listening dictation with specific reference to the cause of misperception of English pronunciation. System, 10(1), 53-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/0346-251X(81)90067-1
  9. Hwang, M. H. (2004). Exploring listening comprehension difficulties observed among Korean high school students. The Journal of Curriculum & Evaluation, 7(1), 275-301. https://doi.org/10.29221/jce.2004.7.1.275
  10. Jeong, Y., & Koo, N. (2017, December). A study of Korean EFL students' listening difficulties in phonetics. Proceedings of the Mirae English Language and Literature Association Conference (pp. 160-164). Jeju, Korea.
  11. Johnson, K. (2004, January). Massive reduction in conversational American English. In K. Yoneyama & K. Maekawa (Eds.), Spontaneous speech: Data and analysis. Proceedings of the 1st session of the 10th International Symposium (pp. 29-54). Tokyo, Japan: The National International Institute for Japanese Language.
  12. Kang, S. M. (2017). Connected speech in listening and speaking. The Journal of Linguistic Science, 80(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.21296/jls.2017.03.80.1
  13. Kim, W. B. (2002). Efficient listening teaching strategies through the analysis of english listening errors. The Modern English Education, 3(2), 3-22.
  14. Kotani, K. & Yoshimi, T. (2015, October-November). Design of a Learner Corpus for Listening and Speaking Performance. Proceedings of the 29th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (pp. 351-358). Shanghai, China.
  15. Shin, S. H., & Hwang, Y. (2012). Perception and production of English geminate consonants across word boundaries by Korean learners and native speakers of English. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology, 18(1), 85-110.
  16. Shoemaker, E. M. (2010). The exploitation of fine phonetic detail in the processing of L2 French. In B. VanPatten & J. Jegerski (Eds.), Research in second language processing and parsing (pp. 259-280). New York, NY: John Benjamins.
  17. Rubin, J. (1994). A review of second language listening comprehension research. The Modern Language Journal, 78(2), 199-221. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1994.tb02034.x
  18. RStudio Team. (2020). RStudio: integrated development environment for R. [Computer software]. Boston, MA: RStudio. Retrieved from http://www.rstudio.com/
  19. UCLES [University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate]. (2021). Cambridge English Proficiency: Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/248530-cambridge-english-proficiency-faqs.pdf
  20. Voss, B. (1984). Slips of the ear. Tubingen, Gremany: Gunter Narr Verlag.
  21. Yang, J. H., & Kang, M. (2020). Application of a self-annotated transcription task in an EFL listening context. Modern English Education, 21(3), 37-47. https://doi.org/10.18095/meeso.2020.21.3.37
  22. Zhang, Q., & Wang, L. (2019, August). Perception of American English junctures by Chinese EFL learners. Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Melbourne, Australia.