Research

📝 A list of publications can be found in my CV.

If you've ever learned a second language (L2), you probably had a moment thinking, 'oh, that sounds similar to my mother tongue (L1) sound X; that sounds almost like L1 sound Y; phew, that sound is completely new.'

But... What do you mean by similar/new sounds?

My research starts from this simple yet complicated question. Many L2 perception studies have focused on the phonetic aspect, overlooking the role of phonology. In my dissertation, I examine the impact of learners' L1 phonological grammar on L2 speech perception. The two major purposes are: (1) to provide phonological representations for both L1 and L2 (while having an emphasis on L2) so that we can have clearer criteria of (dis)similarity and (2) to emphasize the complementary nature of the relationship between phonetics and phonology to offer more thorough and comprehensive accounts of L2 perception.

• Kwon, J. & Starr, G. (2023a). How L1-Mandarin L2-English learners perceive English front vowels: A phonological account. Glossa: A journal of general linguistics, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.9282   

• Kwon, J. (2019). Korean vowel mergers: Contrastive hierarchies and distinctive features. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 25(1), 158-168. 

• Ahn, J. & Kwon, J. (2024). 발음 능력 향상을 위한 과제로서의 섀도잉 학습법 활용 방안 - 미국 내 중급 한국어 학습자를 대상으로 [Utilizing shadowing as a project for pronunciation improvement: A case study of Korean learners in the US]. Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language, 73. 159-187. https://doi.org/10.21716/TKFL.73.7  

• Ahn, J. & Kwon, J. (2023b). Speaking naturally and confidently: Shadowing as a speaking practice tool for intermediate Korean learners. The Korean Language in America, 27(2), 203–220. https://doi.org/10.5325/korelangamer.27.2.0203