Direct instruction of word stress in Russian language classes in South Korea

This study examined how direct instruction of word stress impacts Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) students’ accuracy of commonly mispronounced words in Russian. Furthermore, it aimed to provide recommendations for how instructors can improve word stress instruction for RFL students. Most native...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Linguistic research 2022-09, Vol.39 (3), p.29-49
Main Authors: Haksoo Yoo, Andrea Rakushin Lee
Format: Article
Language:Korean
Subjects:
Korean Language
non-stress language
pedagogically persuasive word examples
Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL)
Russian language stress
Russian phonetic system
word recognition
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Summary:This study examined how direct instruction of word stress impacts Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) students’ accuracy of commonly mispronounced words in Russian. Furthermore, it aimed to provide recommendations for how instructors can improve word stress instruction for RFL students. Most native speakers of Korean underestimate the role of word stress in learning RFL and are not aware of its importance in the Russian phonetic system. The Korean language is classified as a non-stress language, which can be problematic for learners of languages with word stress, including Russian. This case study comprised 88 students studying in RFL courses at two universities in South Korea. Data included a compiled list of commonly mispronounced words in Russian, student observations, and linguistic interviewing. Results indicate that pedagogically similar word pairs demonstrate a critical function in differentiating stress in the Russian phonetic system. Word pairs have different meanings but are similar in terms of sound composition (e.g., Бороди́н - Бородино́ / Borodin (surname of a man) - Borodino (name of the village); временна́я форма - вре́менная форма / tense - temporary form; время лети́т - время ле́чит / time flies - time cures). They include words with similar spellings but different accents (i.e. * [nófki] are understood as но́жки(legs), and * [nafki] as носки́(socks), because a good rhythm (the contrast of stressed and unstressed syllables) makes the words intelligible even to Korean RFL learners with pronunciation deficiencies. (Sunmoon UniversityㆍAustin Peay State University)
ISSN:1229-1374