Nativeness and Flapping in Korean American Speakers of English

Abstract

Studies in second language acquisition should take into account aspects of both production and perception. Perceptions of a speaker's English can serve as an indicator of how pervasive an English feature is produced by the speaker. This study examines the correlation of perceptions of "nativeness" of native and non-native English speakers of Korean ethnicity and their production of Word Medial /t/ Flapping, a distinctive feature of North American English While an exact description of nativeness is elusive, a perception test was designed to measure perceptions of nativeness and ethnicity of the speakers. The results of the test, which was administered to native English speakers, were then compared with the frequency rates of the production of Flapping. Results indicate that a positive relation exists in that an increase in perceptions of nativeness coincides with an increase in the use of Flapping.