Fricatives and Affricates as a Source of Pronunciation Errors among Korean-Speaking Learners of Spanish and Portuguese: Instructors’ Perceptions and Approaches

Abstract

This study focuses on the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese fricatives and affricates by Korean-speaking L2 learners. Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean have varying allophonic varieties of fricatives and affricates, but instructional strategies often do not differentiate them. The main focus of this study is on mispronunciations of fricatives and affricates. The data was gathered through interviews with language instructors teaching Spanish and Portuguese in South Korea. During the interviews, instructors shared their perceptions of the most problematic aspects of pronunciation for Korean learners and provided insights into their classroom pronunciation teaching approaches. Ultimately, the study interprets potential sources of these pronunciation difficulties and discusses the impact of mispronunciations on L2 learners' intelligibility.