Characteristics of Korean phonology: review, tutorial, and case studies of Korean children speaking English

A significant number of bilinguals in English-speaking countries speak Korean as their first language. One such country is the United States (U.S.). As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, providing more effective services for culturally and linguistically diverse children is a critical issue and growing challenge for speech-language pathologists. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of Korean immigrants in the U.S. has steadily increased over the past decade. As a result, a greater number of children who speak Korean as a first or second language may need speech, language, and hearing services. This paper provides a review of the literature on (1) phonological characteristics of the Korean language and (2) speech sound acquisition and developmental patterns for phonological processes in Korean children. We illustrate how language knowledge of Korean might impact the learning of English based on case studies of three Korean children speaking English in the U.S. We describe considerations for more appropriate evaluation and treatment of speech sound disorders in Korean-English-speaking children.

Readers will be able to: (1) understand phonological characteristics of the Korean language and speech sound acquisition and developmental patterns for phonological process in Korean children, (2) describe characteristics of English speech sound acquisition in successive bilingual English-Korean learners and interference patterns that result from the influence of two independent phonological and phonetic systems, and (3) describe considerations and clinical implications for the more appropriate evaluation and treatment of speech sound disorders in Korean-English speaking children.