Suprasegmental Features Are Not Acquired Early: Perception and Production of Monosyllabic Cantonese Lexical Tones in 4- to 6-Year-Old Preschool Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1070-1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Puisan Wong ◽  
Carrie Tsz-Tin Leung
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Lexical Information ◽  
Tone Production ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Suprasegmental Features ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Production Accuracy

Purpose Previous studies reported that children acquire Cantonese tones before 3 years of age, supporting the assumption in models of phonological development that suprasegmental features are acquired rapidly and early in children. Yet, recent research found a large disparity in the age of Cantonese tone acquisition. This study investigated Cantonese tone development in 4- to 6-year-old children. Method Forty-eight 4- to 6-year-old Cantonese-speaking children and 28 mothers of the children labeled 30 pictures representing familiar words in the 6 tones in a picture-naming task and identified pictures representing words in different Cantonese tones in a picture-pointing task. To control for lexical biases in tone assessment, tone productions were low-pass filtered to eliminate lexical information. Five judges categorized the tones in filtered stimuli. Tone production accuracy, tone perception accuracy, and correlation between tone production and perception accuracy were examined. Results Children did not start to produce adultlike tones until 5 and 6 years of age. Four-year-olds produced none of the tones with adultlike accuracy. Five- and 6-year-olds attained adultlike productions in 2 (T5 and T6) to 3 (T4, T5, and T6) tones, respectively. Children made better progress in tone perception and achieved higher accuracy in perception than in production. However, children in all age groups perceived none of the tones as accurately as adults, except that T1 was perceived with adultlike accuracy by 6-year-olds. Only weak association was found between children's tone perception and production accuracy. Conclusions Contradicting to the long-held assumption that children acquire lexical tone rapidly and early before the mastery of segmentals, this study found that 4- to 6-year-old children have not mastered the perception or production of the full set of Cantonese tones in familiar monosyllabic words. Larger development was found in children's tone perception than tone production. The higher tone perception accuracy but weak correlation between tone perception and production abilities in children suggested that tone perception accuracy is not sufficient for children's tone production accuracy. The findings have clinical and theoretical implications.

Development of Phonetic Contrasts in Cantonese Tone Acquisition

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-108
Author(s):  
Peggy Pik Ki Mok ◽  
Vivian Guo Li ◽  
Holly Sze Ho Fung
Keyword(s):  
Inflection Point ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Tone Production ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Natural Production ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Phonetic Contrasts ◽  
Transcription Data ◽  
Production Accuracy

Purpose Previous studies showed both early and late acquisition of Cantonese tones based on transcription data using different criteria, but very little acoustic data were reported. Our study examined Cantonese tone acquisition using both transcription and acoustic data, illustrating the early and protracted aspects of Cantonese tone acquisition. Method One hundred fifty-nine Cantonese-speaking children aged between 2;1 and 6;0 (years;months) and 10 reference speakers participated in a tone production experiment based on picture naming. Natural production materials with 30 monosyllabic words were transcribed by two native judges. Acoustic measurements included overall tonal dispersion and specific contrasts between similar tone pairs: ratios of average fundamental frequency height for the level tones (T1, T3, T6), magnitude of rise and inflection point for the rising tones (T2, T5), magnitude of fall, H1*–H2*, and harmonic-to-noise ratio for the low tones (T4, T6). Auditory assessment of creakiness for T4 was also included. Results Children in the eldest group (aged 5;7–6;0) were still not completely adultlike in production accuracy, although two thirds of them had production accuracy over 90%. Children in all age groups had production accuracy significantly higher than chance level, and they could produce the major acoustic contrasts between specific tone pairs similarly as reference speakers. Fine phonetic detail of the inflection point and creakiness was more challenging for children. Conclusion Our findings illustrated the multifaceted aspects (both early and late) of Cantonese tone acquisition and called for a wider perspective on how to define successful phonological acquisition. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.11594853

Assessing the Link Between Perception and Production in Cantonese Tone Acquisition

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1243-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy Pik Ki Mok ◽  
Holly Sze Ho Fung ◽  
Vivian Guo Li
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
General Principle ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Tone Pair ◽  
Tone Production ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Early Production ◽  
Forced Choice Task ◽  
Production Accuracy

Purpose Previous studies showed early production precedes late perception in Cantonese tone acquisition, contrary to the general principle that perception precedes production in child language. How tone production and perception are linked in 1st language acquisition remains largely unknown. Our study revisited the acquisition of tone in Cantonese-speaking children, exploring the possible link between production and perception in 1st language acquisition. Method One hundred eleven Cantonese-speaking children aged between 2;0 and 6;0 (years;months) and 10 adolescent reference speakers participated in tone production and perception experiments. Production materials with 30 monosyllabic words were transcribed in filtered and unfiltered conditions by 2 native judges. Perception accuracy was based on a 2-alternative forced-choice task with pictures covering all possible tone pair contrasts. Results Children's accuracy of production and perception of all the 6 Cantonese tones was still not adultlike by age 6;0. Both production and perception accuracies matured with age. A weak positive link was found between the 2 accuracies. Mother's native language contributed to children's production accuracy. Conclusions Our findings show that production and perception abilities are associated in tone acquisition. Further study is needed to explore factors affecting production accuracy in children. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7960826

scholarly journals Perception and Production of Lexical Tones by 3-Year-Old, Mandarin-Speaking Children

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1065-1079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Puisan Wong ◽  
Richard G. Schwartz ◽  
James J. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Picture Naming ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Production ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Pointing Task ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Low Pass ◽  
Reading Activity ◽  
Filtered Speech

The present study investigated 3-year-old children's perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones in monosyllabic words. Thirteen 3-year-old, Mandarin-speaking children participated in the study. Tone perception was examined by a picture-pointing task, and tone production was investigated by picture naming. To compare children's productions with the adult forms, 4 mothers of the children were asked to say the same set of words to their children in a picture-reading activity. The children's and mothers' productions were low-pass filtered at 500 Hz and 400 Hz, respectively, to eliminate segmental information. Ten Mandarin-speaking judges identified the productions of tones from the filtered speech. Adult productions were more accurately identified than productions of the children. The children perceived the level, rising, and falling tones with relatively high accuracy. The dipping tone posed the greatest difficulty for the children in both perception and production.

scholarly journals The development of consonant and lexical-tone discrimination between 3 and 6 years: Effect of language exposure

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1249-1263
Author(s):  
Laurianne Cabrera ◽  
Ranka Bijeljac-Babic ◽  
Josiane Bertoncini
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Tone Discrimination

Aims and objectives:The present study explored children’s discrimination capacities for lexical tones and consonants between 3 and 6 years of age and the effect of native language on this ability. Recent studies in infants have shown a perceptual rebound for non-native listeners during the second year of life, but only for lexical tones. However, the later stages of development, and particularly when children start pre-school, are yet not clear.Design:Discrimination abilities of 134 children were measured in three age groups between 3 and 6 years using a behavioural task where children detected a change in lexical tones or consonants. Children were either French monolinguals, French bilinguals exposed to an Asian tone language or French bilinguals exposed to a second non-tone language at home.Data and analysis:Overall, results indicated that higher detection scores for consonants were observed from 4 to 5 years, while for lexical tones the highest scores were observed only at 5–6 years. Moreover, bilingual children exposed to an Asian tone language had higher scores for tones compared to monolingual French children. Interestingly, both bilingual groups, whether exposed to an Asian tone language or to a non-tone language, had better scores for tones than for French consonants, while monolinguals performed equally with both.Conclusions:Language exposure from an early age influences phonological development and bilingualism seems to enhance the perception of prosodic information.Originality:This study is the first to show a different developmental trajectory for consonant and lexical-tone discrimination between 3 and 6 years according to the native language.Significance:Similar detection scores for tones and consonants for monolingual French children and better detection for tones than for consonants for both groups of bilinguals suggest that the perception of lexical tone is determined by both language-specific influences and non-linguistic/auditory processing during childhood.

On the Relationship Between General Auditory Sensitivity and Speech Perception: An Examination of Pitch and Lexical Tone Perception in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-498
Author(s):  
Puisan Wong ◽  
Man Wai Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Auditory Sensitivity ◽  
Pitch Discrimination ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Perceptual Training ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Tone Discrimination

Purpose Theoretical models and substantial research have proposed that general auditory sensitivity is a developmental foundation for speech perception and language acquisition. Nonetheless, controversies exist about the effectiveness of general auditory training in improving speech and language skills. This research investigated the relationships among general auditory sensitivity, phonemic speech perception, and word-level speech perception via the examination of pitch and lexical tone perception in children. Method Forty-eight typically developing 4- to 6-year-old Cantonese-speaking children were tested on the discrimination of the pitch patterns of lexical tones in synthetic stimuli, discrimination of naturally produced lexical tones, and identification of lexical tone in familiar words. Results The findings revealed that accurate lexical tone discrimination and identification did not necessarily entail the accurate discrimination of nonlinguistic stimuli that followed the pitch levels and pitch shapes of lexical tones. Although pitch discrimination and tone discrimination abilities were strongly correlated, accuracy in pitch discrimination was lower than that in tone discrimination, and nonspeech pitch discrimination ability did not precede linguistic tone discrimination in the developmental trajectory. Conclusions Contradicting the theoretical models, the findings of this study suggest that general auditory sensitivity and speech perception may not be causally or hierarchically related. The finding that accuracy in pitch discrimination is lower than that in tone discrimination suggests that comparable nonlinguistic auditory perceptual ability may not be necessary for accurate speech perception and language learning. The results cast doubt on the use of nonlinguistic auditory perceptual training to improve children's speech, language, and literacy abilities.

Effect of Noise on Lexical Tone Perception in Cantonese-Speaking Amusics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Shao ◽  
Caicai Zhang ◽  
Gang Peng ◽  
Yike Yang ◽  
William S.-Y. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tone Perception

The Development of Fundamental Frequency in 6- to 10-Year Old Children: A Brief Study

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Whiteside ◽  
C. Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Final Position ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Age And Sex

This brief study investigates the development of fundamental frequency (FO) in pre-adolescent children as a function of age and sex. The children who took part in the study were divided into three age groups: 6, 8 and 10 years. Each group consisted of three males and three females. Each subject produced nine target phrases with [] in phrase-final position, which were elicited via a picture-naming task. FO was estimated for the nine target utterances and the following FO parameters were derived: mean FO for the whole phrase; FO range for the whole phrase; standard deviation values of FO for the whole phrase and mean FO for the phrase-final vowel [α:]. Results indicated that FO parameters generally decreased with age, and by age 10 years the males had lower values than the females for all four parameters. Results also indicated that the mean standard deviation of FO across the phrase was significantly higher for the females compared to that for the males.

scholarly journals The Derived Allele of ASPM Is Associated with Lexical Tone Perception

PLoS ONE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. e34243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick C. M. Wong ◽  
Bharath Chandrasekaran ◽  
Jing Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tone Perception

Phonetic Imitation by Young Children and Its Developmental Changes

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 2065-2075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuniko Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Age Effect ◽  
Third Graders ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Before And After

Purpose In the current study, the author investigated the developmental course of phonetic imitation in childhood, and further evaluated existing accounts of phonetic imitation. Method Sixteen preschoolers, 15 third graders, and 18 college students participated in the current study. An experiment with a modified imitation paradigm with a picture-naming task was conducted, in which participants' voice-onset time (VOT) was compared before and after they were exposed to target speech with artificially increased VOT. Results Extended VOT in the target speech was imitated by preschoolers and 3rd graders as well as adults, confirming previous findings in phonetic imitation. Furthermore, an age effect of phonetic imitation was observed; namely, children showed greater imitation than adults, whereas the degree of imitation was comparable between preschoolers and 3rd graders. No significant effect of gender or word specificity was observed. Conclusions Young children imitated fine phonetic details of the target speech, and greater degree of phonetic imitation was observed in children compared to adults. These findings suggest that the degree of phonetic imitation negatively correlates with phonological development.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document