Shin, Dong-Jin and Goun Lee. 2016. Do Korean learners of English speak L2 differently from their L1? – F0 characteristics and intensity differences between Korean and English. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 22.2. 317-334.
The aim of the current paper is to examine whether F0 characteristics and intensity can characterize linguistic profiles – L1 (Korean) and L2 (English) – of the same speakers. The study also examined what the effect of L2 proficiency is on the use of L2 suprasegmental features. Mean F0, F0 range, and mean intensity were measured from Korean and English sentences produced by 20 Korean learners of English. The results showed that L1 (Korean) has higher mean F0 and higher mean intensity than L2 (English). There was no difference in F0 range between Korean and English, and L2 proficiency did not have any effect on the use of F0 range in English. These results indicate that language-specific characteristics can be attributed to suprasegmental differences, and speaker gender differences influences the use of F0 range. (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Yonsei University)