The purpose of this study was to analyze Indonesian learners’ ability to recognize the difference between /ʌ/ and /o/ and produce them. The study employed perception test, production test, and phonetic analysis of speech production. There was a sig...
The purpose of this study was to analyze Indonesian learners’ ability to recognize the difference between /ʌ/ and /o/ and produce them. The study employed perception test, production test, and phonetic analysis of speech production. There was a significant difference between Korean native speakers’ pronunciation and that of Indonesian learners in pronouncing /ʌ/ and /o/. The study found that Indonesian learners studying Korean less than one year were not able to recognize the difference between /ʌ/ and /o/, and had difficulties in pronouncing them. Indonesian learners who have been studying Korean more than one year were better able to recognize the difference between /ʌ/ and /o/; however, they still had difficulties of producing /ʌ/. The results of the phonetic test showed that there was significant difference between Korean native speakers’ /ʌ/ and Indonesia learners‘ /ʌ/; in contrast, no significant difference was found between Korean native speakers’ /o/ and Indonesia learners’ /o/. Consequently, Indonesian Korean learners have difficulties in perceiving and producing /ʌ/ and the difficulties still linger even when the period of studying was long.