earticle

영어

This study examines the patterns of Korean college students’ awareness of English phonological variation, focusing on six major subcomponents: contraction, reduction, assimilation, /l/ velarization, /t/ flapping, and /t/ glottalization. A total of 137 first- and second-year students majoring in nursing, health, and culinary arts participated in the study. The English Phonological Variation Test (EPVT), validated using Cronbach’s α, was administered in a face-to-face format, and data were analyzed using SPSS 29.0. The results revealed significant variation in awareness levels across phonological subcomponents. Participants showed the lowest awareness of assimilation (M = 5.96), followed by /t/ glottalization (M = 7.18), /l/ velarization (M = 7.94), reduction (M = 8.69), contraction (M = 9.41), and /t/ flapping (M = 10.36). Notably, students had particular difficulty with reciprocal assimilation at word boundaries, indicating a lack of familiarity with English prosody and weakened syllables in stress-timed rhythm. In contrast, /t/ flapping was well-recognized, likely due to consistent phonological rules, frequent exposure in media and daily life, and instruction based on American English pronunciation models. These findings provide foundational data for developing targeted phonological instruction and learner-centered listening curricula in EFL contexts.