This study examined effects of pronunciation training using automatic speech recognition technology on common pronunciation errors of Korean English learners. Participants were divided into two groups. One group was given instruction and training about the use of automatic speech recognition for pronunciation practice. The other group was not given such instruction or training as a control group. A pre- and post-test experimental design was used. The treatment period was four weeks. Participants who were taught about using automatic speech recognition for pronunciation practice showed small but significant improvements in pronunciation accuracy than those who did not. In addition, automatic speech recognition was found to assist in the diagnostic evaluation of common pronunciation errors, although it did not produce statistically significant improvements. Participants responded positively to the use of automatic speech recognition for pronunciation practice and testing, although there remain some concerns over technical aspects of the test.

With the wide availability of mobile devices, efforts to accommodate these technological devices have been made in pronunciation training. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mobile apps in improving the perception and production of the English vowels, /o/ and /ɔ/, which are difficult to discriminate and produce for Korean learners of English. The participants were 24 college freshmen enrolled in a general English course. They shadowed the model pronunciation from the application and corrected their production after instant feedback from the automatic speech recognition application. Their perception was evaluated in the preand post-tests, and the production was visually examined on the formant chart. The training was held for 5 minutes each day, for a month. The results showed that the training made positive effects on improving students’ perception of the target vowels. There was also some progress in their production although the improvement was not as noticeable as in perception. A discrepancy in the production was discovered between male and female participants with the latter performing better.

The present study investigates the effect of pronunciation training on Korean adult learners’ perception and production of English vowels, /i/, /I/, /u/, and /Ω/. The study examines 1) the effect of pronunciation training on perception and production and 2) the maintenance of the effect over a one-month period. The subjects were 10 Korean graduate students who took a 4-week long English pronunciation training course. They were tested before and after pronunciation training and tested again one month after the training. In each test, both perception and production of the vowels were tested to see if the subjects were able to distinguish tense and lax vowels. In the perception part, subjects listened for words and checked the vowel (either tense or lax) sound they heard. For the production part, subjects read the selected words which contained the target vowels. The results show that pronunciation training has an effect, which supports the teachability of phonology in adulthood; however, the maintenance of the effect demonstrated a difference between perception and production, in which the effect was maintained in production but not in perception. Based on the results of the study, implications are discussed.

최근 한국 사회에 거주하는 다문화 가정의 수가 꾸준히 증가하고 있다. 이들은 한국에 정착하는 과정에서 언어적 문제, 그중에서 특히 한국어 발음․억양 문제로 인해 많은 어려움을 겪게 된다. 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위해서는 신뢰할 만한 교육 과정 마련과 더불어 이들을 위한 체계적인 행정적 지원이 필요하다. 그러나 아직까지 이들을 위한 교육 과정이 운영되는 사례가 많지 않다. 이는 실제 교육 과정을 설계하고 운영하려고 할 때 신뢰하여 참고할 만한 모델이 없기 때문이다. 이러한 상황에서 본 연구는 선행 연구를 정리하여 다문화 구성원을 위한 한국어 발음과 억양 교육의 범위와 내용을 밝히고, 부산 B대학의 보이스트레이닝 아카데미 프로그램의 사례를 분석하였다. 이 연구는 추후 교육 현장에서 다문화 구성원을 위한 한국어 발음․억양 교육과정 설계, 운영 시 참고할 수 있는 기초 자료를 제공하였다는 데 의의가 있다.