Traditional and phonological treatment for teaching English fricatives and affricates to Koreans

Non-native speakers of English are being seen for accent reduction in speech-language pathology clinics although there is little evidence that treatment is effective. Two types of treatment were evaluated. Traditional articulation-based treatment was successful for 2 native Korean speakers in improving English fricatives and affricate production. A second treatment using phonologically based contrasts was also successful for the same sounds with 2 other Korean speakers. Some issues in foreign accent reduction are discussed.