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Tones are the most challenging aspect of learning Chinese as a second language, and L2 learners’ perceptual categories differ in important and fascinating ways from those of native speakers. This book explores the relationship between tone perception and production among native speakers and non-native learners as illustrated in the experiments the author conducted with native speakers, true learners and heritage learners, all of whom were tested on their ability to produce tones naturally and to perceive 81 synthesized tones in various contexts. The experiments show that each group processes tones differently with regard to both register (tonal level) and contour (tonal shape). The results also reveal how three types of cues – acoustic, psychological and contextual – influence non-native speakers’ tone perception and production.
Tones are the most challenging aspect of learning Chinese pronunciation for adult learners and traditional research mostly attributes tonal errors to interference from learners’ native languages. In Second Language Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese Tones, Hang Zhang offers a series of cross-linguistic studies to argue that there are factors influencing tone acquisition that extend beyond the transfer of structures from learners’ first languages, and beyond characteristics extracted from Chinese. These factors include universal phonetic and phonological constraints as well as pedagogical issues. By examining non-native Chinese tone productions made by speakers of non-tonal languages (English, Japanese, and Korean), this book brings together theory and practice and uses the theoretical insights to provide concrete suggestions for teachers and learners of Chinese.
This book examines the acquisition of L2 Mandarin prosody, a less explored area in SLA. While acknowledging that tone acquisition is one of the most important aspects in acquiring L2 Mandarin phonology, the book demonstrates that phrase- and utterance-level prosody is equally important. Specifically, this book discusses the acquisition of Mandarin lexical tones and utterance-level prosody, the interaction of tones and intonation, the acquisition of Tone 3 sandhis, the temporal differences between L1 and L2 Mandarin discourse, and the relationship between intelligibility, comprehensibility and foreign accent perception in L2 Chinese. In addition, a whole chapter is exclusively devoted to the pedagogy of L2 Mandarin prosody. Studies in this book further our understanding of speech prosody in L1 and L2 and showcase the interesting interaction of phonetics, phonology, and pedagogy in SLA. This book will be of great interest to SLA researchers and graduate students, applied linguists, Chinese linguists, and Chinese practitioners.
The study reported in this volume is based on three decades of research on the SLA of Mandarin tone. It investigates whether differences in learners' tone perception and production are related to differences in the effects of certain linguistic, task and learner factors.
This study explores the effect of musical aptitude as a combination of innate musical aptitude and learned/trained musical aptitude in tonal perception and tonal production by non-native speakers of Chinese. The study aims to discover whether the musical aptitude of non-native speakers of Chinese helps in their perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones at different stages of learning. Mandarin uses tones to lexically distinguish word meanings, and therefore learning these tones is essential to communication in the language. A number of studies have found that those learning Mandarin as a foreign language have difficulty in perceiving and producing Mandarin lexical tones (Klein, Zatorre, Mikner & Zhao, 2001; Wang et al., 2001a; 2003; Lee et al., 2009). In order to tackle this problem and therefore improve Mandarin learners' learning, researchers have attempted to detect the source of this difficulty. Seven factors were identified, three linguistic factors and four sociolinguistic factors. The former included the categorical nature of tone, the phonetic cues for tone, and the context-dependent nature of tone sandhi; the latter factors included the learners' language experience in the form of bilingualism, the learner's age, foreign language anxiety and the impact of gender (Chao, 1968; Brown, 1980; Hassler et al., 1985; Xu, 1997; Peretz & Coltheart, 2003; Wee, 2008). Among the seven factors, the phonetic cues of Mandarin lexical tones and learners' learning experience in the form of bilingualism remained underspecified in prior studies, and hence became two of the research aims in this study. The findings of the small body of research into another underspecified factor affecting learners' perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones, learners' musical aptitude, have been inconsistent: some investigators found little or no relationship between musical aptitude and L2 learning of tone (e.g. Peoppel, 2001; Anvari et al., 2002), while other investigators have found such a relationship to exist (e.g. Zatorre et al., 2002; Slev & Miyake, 2006; Wong et al., 2007). In order to provide more conclusive evidence in regard to the three above mentioned underspecified factors affecting learners' perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones, the current study provides a more rigorous and precise research design than those adopted in previous studies. During the first stage of the longitudinal study forty-five non-native speakers of Chinese enrolled in the Chinese Stage I course at the University of Auckland were administered a questionnaire, and then tested using an innate MA test, a Mandarin lexical tone listening test (for perception), and a Mandarin lexical tone speaking test (for production). The eleven participants who continued into the later stage of the study again took each of these tests twelve weeks later at the end of their first semester of study. A comparison of the findings of the tests revealed that musical aptitude, defined as a combination of innate musical aptitude and learned/trained musical aptitude, did help non-native speakers of Chinese in their perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones in the early stage of their learning. Particularly, pitch in musical aptitude provided the most advantage in learners' tonal perception, and melody in musical aptitude provided the most advantage in their tonal production. Concurrently, in addition to musical aptitude, learners' language experience in form of bilingualism also played a role in their tonal perception and production. However, the findings also revealed that as learners' tonal training in the formal classroom setting increased, the impact of observed musical aptitude on learners' tonal perception and production became less over time. These findings overall indicate that while musical aptitude may help non-native speakers of Chinese in their perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones during the early stage of their learning, it may not necessarily be as important during the later stages of their learning. This thesis concludes with important insights and significant theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical contributions from this research on the relationship between musical aptitude and Mandarin tones.
Learning Chinese can be frustrating and difficult, partly because it's very different from European languages. Following a teacher, textbook or language course is not enough. They show you the characters, words and grammar you need to become proficient in Chinese, but they don't teach you how to learn them! Regardless of what program you're in (if any), you need to take responsibility for your own learning. If you don't, you will miss many important things that aren't included in the course you're taking. If you study on your own, you need to be even more aware of what you need to do, what you're doing at the moment and the difference between them. Here are some of the questions I have asked and have since been asked many times by students: How do I learn characters efficiently? How do I get the most out of my course or teacher? Which are the best learning tools and resources? How can I become fluent in Mandarin? How can I improve my pronunciation? How do I learn successfully on my own? How can I motivate myself to study more? How can I fit learning Chinese into a busy schedule? The answers I've found to these questions and many others form the core of this book. It took eight years of learning, researching, teaching and writing to figure these things out. Not everybody has the time to do that! I can't go back in time and help myself learn in a better way, but I can help you! This book is meant for normal students and independent language learners alike. While it covers all major areas of learning, you won't learn Chinese just by reading this book. It's like when someone on TV teaches you how to cook: you won't get to eat the delicious dish just by watching the program; you have to do the cooking yourself. That's true for this book as well. When you apply what you learn, it will boost your learning, making every hour you spend count for more, but you still have to do the learning yourself. This is what a few readers have said about the book: "The book had me nodding at a heap of things I'd learnt the hard way, wishing I knew them when I started, as well as highlighting areas that I'm currently missing in my study." - Geoff van der Meer, VP engineering "This publication is like a bible for anyone serious about Chinese proficiency. It's easy for anyone to read and written with scientific precision." - Zachary Danz, foreign teacher, children's theatre artist About me I started learning Chinese when I was 23 (that's more than eight years ago now) and have since studied in many different situations, including serious immersion programs abroad, high-intensity programs in Sweden, online courses, as well as on the side while working or studying other things. I have also successfully used my Chinese in a graduate program for teaching Chinese as a second language, taught entirely in Chinese mostly for native speakers (the Graduate Institute for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University). All these parts have contributed to my website, Hacking Chinese, where I write regularly about how to learn Mandarin.
This book is the first edited book to cover a wide range of issues related to Chinese as a second language (CSL) speech, including tone and segment acquisition and processing, categorical perception of tones, CSL fluency, CSL intelligibility/comprehensibility and accentedness, and pronunciation pedagogy. Moreover, the book addresses both theoretical and pedagogical issues. It offers an essential go-to book for anyone who is interested in CSL speech, e.g. CSL speech researchers, Chinese instructors, CSL learners, and anyone interested in second language speech.
The purpose of the thesis is to study the acoustic variation of Mandarin tones produced in context by native Mandarin speakers (Study I) and how these acoustic variations of Mandarin tones influence L2 learners' identification of Mandarin tones (Study II). Study I revealed that both F0 contour and F0 height of the two tone sequence of disyllabic non words from L1 Chinese were influenced by both syllable position and tonal context (conflicting/compatible context). Study II tested the identification of Mandarin tones by L1 English learners of Chinese in both monosyllable and two tone sequence of disyllabic non-words by using DMDX (a software for the experimental control and timing of stimulus display); in terms of how accuracy rates, identification sensitivity, error patterns, and reaction times are influenced by tonal context, syllable position, and learning experience.