This study aims to analyze pronunciation errors of the Korean liquid /ㄹ/ among Vietnamese beginner learners, with a specific focus on learners from the northern and southern regions. For a comprehensive analysis, the phonetic environments were categ...
This study aims to analyze pronunciation errors of the Korean liquid /ㄹ/ among Vietnamese beginner learners, with a specific focus on learners from the northern and southern regions. For a comprehensive analysis, the phonetic environments were categorized into four main types: CV, VCV, VC, and VCCV. Specifically, the CV, VCV, and VC environments were analyzed by considering both lexical and grammatical factors.
First, the analysis revealed that error rates varied significantly depending on the phonological environment. The highest error rate occurred in the final consonant (coda) position (vc), followed by the VCCV environment. The VCV environment followed, while the CV environment showed the lowest error frequency. Consequently, the hierarchy of error frequency by phonological environment was VC > VCCV > VCV > CV. A more detailed examination showed the specific order of error frequency was: VC > ㄹ + palatal > ㄹ + alveolar > ㄹ + bilabial > ㄹ + velar > VC#V > ㄹ + ㄹ > CV > V#CV.
Furthermore, this study examined the impact of lexical and grammatical morphemes in VCV and VC environments. The results indicated that in the VCV environment, the error rate for lexical morphemes was higher than that for grammatical morphemes. Conversely, in the VC environment, errors in grammatical morphemes accounted for a significantly higher proportion—nearly twice as high as phonetic errors. These findings suggest that the VC environment is the most challenging for Vietnamese beginner learners to prounce the liquid /ㄹ/. It can be interpreted that when /ㄹ/ appears as a grammatical form in the VC environment, learners prioritize content delivery over phonetic accuracy, compounded by a relative lack of corrective feedback from instructors.
Next, the study investigated error types and analyzed pronunciation patterns by each environment. In the initial consonant position (CV), Vietnamese beginner learners showed a marked tendency to substitute /ㄹ/ with consonants sharing similar places of articulation, such as /z/, /n/, or /l/. In the final consonant position, however, the liquid was frequently substituted with /n/, realized as the semivowel /j/, or omitted. Regarding the causes of these errors, onset /ㄹ/ tends to be replaced by consonants similar to the learners' native language or by /l/, /n/, or /z/ with similar articulatory positions. Coda /ㄹ/ tends to be omitted, replaced by /n/ which has a higher articulatory position, or a descending semivowel adjacent to the vowel.
In conclusion, this study comprehensively analyzed pronunciation errors among Vietnamese beginner learners and compared the distinct error patterns between northern and southern regional groups. Based on these findings, the study examined the current state of liquid pronunciation instruction in textbooks and provided pedagogical suggestions to improve the Korean pronunciation skills of Vietnamese learners.