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This study aims to examine L2 speech production of young learners with a special reference to the interrelation of temporal parameters including speech rate and stress timing and L2 learner variables such as L2 experience and L2 proficiency (Huang and Jun, 2011; Xue and Lee, 2014). Sixty two Korean EFL 5th and 6th graders read aloud a series of declarative sentences in a delayed sentence-repetition task. In the task, the learners were instructed to repeat orally the answer parts embedded in the conversations after listening to a series of conversations composed of a question and a corresponding answer. From the recorded repetitions of the learners, two temporal parameters (i.e., stress timing and speech rate) were acoustically analyzed using Praat. With regard to learner variables, L2 experience were collected by means of a questionnaire and L2 proficiency was estimated via the participants’ English performance-based assessment scores. Regression analyses revealed that speech rate yielded a strong inverse association with L2 proficiency while stress timing was positively correlated with L2 experience. Results support that the effect on L2 learner variables revealed the contributions of L2 acquisition of temporal parameters by Korean young EFL learners. Future research is needed to study how L2 learner variables in relation to various types of temporal parameters contribute to L2 prosody.
