Cantonese tone production in pre-school Urdu–Cantonese bilingual minority children

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 767-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Yao ◽  
Angel Chan ◽  
Roxana Fung ◽  
Wing Li Wu ◽  
Natalie Leung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
First Language ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Minority Children ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Tone Production ◽  
Phonetic Information ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Accuracy Rates

Aim: In this study, we examine the production of Cantonese tones by preschool Urdu–Cantonese children living in Hong Kong. Methodology: 21 first language Urdu second language Cantonese children (ages 4–6) and 20 age-matched first language Cantonese children participated in a picture-naming experiment with 86 words (109 syllables in total). Data and Analysis: Acoustic analysis was carried out for perceptually correct and incorrect tone productions of each tone. Comparisons were also made across speaker groups regarding accuracy rates and error patterns. Findings: Overall, first-language Urdu participants had lower accuracy and greater tone confusion than first language Cantonese participants. The pattern is attributable to influence from Urdu prosody, ongoing Cantonese tone mergers, and general sensitivity to phonetic information. Originality: This is the first empirical study on the acquisition of Cantonese tones by children who are heritage speakers of a non-tone language. Significance: This study extends the literature of early bilingual phonology by furthering our understanding of an under-studied bilingual population, that is, heritage children of a non-tone language acquiring a tone language as the majority language. The findings of this study also produce implications for the practice of language educators and speech therapy professionals working with bilingual children.

Sequential bilingual heritage children's L1 attrition in lexical retrieval: Age of acquisition versus language experience

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Kitaek Kim ◽  
Hyunwoo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Language Attrition ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Length Of Residence ◽  
Heritage Speakers

Abstract This study investigated the unresolved issue of potential sources of heritage language attrition. To test contributing effects of three learner variables – age of second language acquisition, length of residence, and language input – on heritage children's lexical retrieval accuracy and speed, we conducted a real-time word naming task with 68 children (age 11–14 years) living in South Korea who spoke either Chinese or Russian as a heritage language. Results of regression analyses showed that the participants were less accurate and slower in naming target words in their heritage language as their length of residence in Korea and the amount of Korean input increased. The age of Korean acquisition did not significantly influence their performance. These findings support the claim that heritage speakers’ language experience is a more reliable predictor of first language attrition than age of acquisition. We discuss these findings in light of different approaches to explaining language attrition.

scholarly journals ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT ON VOWEL PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE BY INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Rudha Widagsa ◽  
Ahmad Agung Yuwono Putro
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
British English ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Second Formant

Indonesian is the most widely spoken language in Indonesia. More than 200 million people speak the language as a first language. However, acoustic study on Indonesian learners of English (ILE) production remains untouched. The purpose of this measurement is to examine the influence of first language (L1) on English vowels production as a second language (L2). Based on perceptual magnet hypothesis (PMH), ILE were predicted to produce close sounds to L1 English where the vowels are similar to Indonesian vowels. Acoustic analysis was conducted to measure the formant frequencies. This study involved five males of Indonesian speakers aged between 20-25 years old. The data of British English native speakers were taken from previous study by Hawkins & Midgley (2005). The result illustrates that the first formant frequencies (F1) which correlates to the vowel hight of Indonesian Learners of English were significantly different from the corresponding frequencies of British English vowels. Surprisingly, the significant differences in second formant (F2) of ILE were only in the production of /ɑ, ɒ, ɔ/ in which /ɑ/=p 0.002, /ɒ/ =p 0,001, /ɔ/ =p 0,03. The vowel space area of ILE was slightly less spacious than the native speakers. This study is expected to shed light in English language teaching particularly as a foreign language.Keywords: VSA, EFL, Indonesian learners, formant frequencies, acoustic

Phonological Production in Young Speakers of Cantonese as a Heritage Language

2020 ◽  
pp. 002383092091046
Author(s):  
Rachel T. Y. Kan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Background Factors ◽  
Hong Kong Cantonese ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Predictive Effect

This study investigates the phonological production of 50 heritage speakers of Cantonese aged 5–11 in the USA. They were compared to 12 majority language speaker peers in Hong Kong via ratings from first language adult speakers. Overall, the heritage speakers were rated as less native-like and less comprehensible than the children in Hong Kong, although they received higher scores from raters speaking the same variety of Cantonese (i.e., Guangzhou Cantonese, vs. Hong Kong Cantonese). None of the tested language background factors, including age of testing, had a predictive effect on the heritage speakers’ scores. The results illustrate the divergence and heterogeneity of heritage phonology compared to homeland varieties.

scholarly journals How Well Do Interviewers Record Responses to Numeric, Interviewer Field-code, and Open-ended Narrative Questions in Telephone Surveys?

Field Methods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-104
Author(s):  
Jolene D. Smyth ◽  
Kristen Olson
Keyword(s):  
Telephone Survey ◽  
Telephone Surveys ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Random Digit Dial ◽  
Interviewer Training ◽  
Single Response ◽  
Accuracy Rates ◽  
Numeric Response ◽  
Interviewer Behaviors

Telephone survey interviewers need to be able to accurately record answers to questions. While straightforward for closed questions, this task can be complicated for open questions. We examine interviewer recording accuracy rates from a national landline random digit dial telephone survey. We find that accuracy rates are over 90% for numeric response and interviewer-code, single-response items but are astonishingly low (49%) for a multiple-answer, nominal, interviewer-code item. Accuracy rates for narrative open questions were around 90% for themes but only about 70% for themes and elaborations. Interviewer behaviors (e.g., probing, feedback) are generally associated with lower accuracy rates. Implications for questionnaire design, interviewer training, and coding procedures are discussed.

scholarly journals Language assessment tools for Arabic-speaking heritage and refugee children in Germany

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1375-1414
Author(s):  
Cornelia Hamann ◽  
Solveig Chilla ◽  
Lina Abed Ibrahim ◽  
István Fekete
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
First Language ◽  
Diagnostic Procedures ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Complex Syntax ◽  
Reliable Assessment ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Arabic Speaking

AbstractThough Germany has long provided education for children speaking a heritage language and received two recent waves of refugees, reliable assessment tools for diagnosis of language impairment or the progress in the acquisition of German as a second language (L2) by refugee children are still lacking. The few tools expressly targeting bilingual populations are normed for younger, early successive bilingual children. This study investigates 27 typically developing children with Arabic as first language (L1), comparing 15 school-age Syrian refugees (6;6–12;8), with 12 heritage speakers (6;0–12;9). We assess the L1 and L2 skills of these two groups with standardized tests, but crucially with an Arabic and a German sentence repetition (SRT) as well as a nonword (NWRT) repetition task (Grimm & Hübner, in press; Marinis & Armon-Lotem, 2015). Comparable scores emerged only for German LITMUS-NWRT and Arabic LITMUS-SRT. Refugee children had an advantage in L1 measures, for example, vocabulary and morphosyntactic production, whereas they performed poorly in the German LITMUS-SRT and other L2 tests involving morphosyntax and vocabulary even with 24 months of systematic exposure. This indicates that the acquisition of adequate vocabulary and complex syntax takes time. The paper explores factors influencing performance on the repetition tasks and relates the results to established diagnostic procedures and educational policies.

Impact of speech therapy on the improvement of voice quality in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Anna Kuligowska ◽  
Barbara Jamróz ◽  
Joanna Chmielewska ◽  
Katarzyna Jędra ◽  
Tomasz Czernicki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Fold ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Maximum Phonation Time ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Vocal Fold Palsy ◽  
The Voice

Aim of study: Evaluation of the speech therapy on voice quality in patients with unilateral vocal fold palsy. Material and methods: The study group included 11 patients, 8 women and 3 men, in age between 16 to 72 years, with unilateral vocal fold palsy, diagnosed in ENT Department of Warsaw Medical University between 2017-2018. Each person completed questionnaires: the voice disability self-assessment scale (VHI), the voice-based quality of life (VRQoL) scale, the vocal tract discomfort scale (VTD). All questionnaires were completed twice, before and after the voice therapy. In addition, the acoustic analysis of the voice, the assessment of the maximum phonation time and the breathing tract were performed twice in each patient. Each of the patients had a voice rehabilitation consisting of a series of 10 meetings. Results: Statistical analysis of the results of maximum phonation time, the self-assessment of voice disability, the quality of life depending on the voice, discomfort of the vocal tract voice acoustic analysis showed statistically significant differences in the results before and after rehabilitation (p <0.005). In addition, the improvement of the respiratory tract was observed in the majority of patients. Conclusions: Speech therapy significantly affects the voice quality of patients with unilateral laryngeal nerve palsy.

scholarly journals The articulatory and acoustic characteristics of Polish sibilants and their consequences for diachronic change

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Bukmaier ◽  
Jonathan Harrington
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
First Language ◽  
Gaussian Model ◽  
Complete Separation ◽  
Tongue Movement ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Movement Data ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Physiological Analysis

The study is concerned with the relative synchronic stability of three contrastive sibilant fricatives /sʂ ɕ/ in Polish. Tongue movement data were collected from nine first-language Polish speakers producing symmetrical real and non-word CVCV sequences in three vowel contexts. A Gaussian model was used to classify the sibilants from spectral information in the noise and from formant frequencies at vowel onset. The physiological analysis showed an almost complete separation between /sʂ ɕ/ on tongue-tip parameters. The acoustic analysis showed that the greater energy at higher frequencies distinguished /s/ in the fricative noise from the other two sibilant categories. The most salient information at vowel onset was for /ɕ/, which also had a strong palatalizing effect on the following vowel. Whereas either the noise or vowel onset was largely sufficient for the identification of /sɕ/ respectively, both sets of cues were necessary to separate /ʂ/ from /sɕ/. The greater synchronic instability of /ʂ/ may derive from its high articulatory complexity coupled with its comparatively low acoustic salience. The data also suggest that the relatively late stage of /ʂ/ acquisition by children may come about because of the weak acoustic information in the vowel for its distinction from /s/.

Development of disyllabic tones in different learning contexts

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-233
Author(s):  
Bei Yang ◽  
Nuoyi Yang
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Tone Production ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Learning Contexts ◽  
Immersion Programs ◽  
Post Test

AbstractTones are the most challenging aspect of learning Chinese. We study tonal acquisition for American learners of Chinese in three learning contexts: study-abroad, at-home and immersion programs. This paper explores whether and how tone production is improved in these contexts. Fifteen learners of Chinese participated in this study. They took a pre-test and a post-test. The control group contained ten native speakers. The task was a read-aloud test in Chinese. Additionally, learners filled out a language contact form. To assess students’ tonal accuracy, we conducted two kinds of analysis: a perception assessment by native Mandarin speakers and an acoustic analysis of pitch track comparison. Contextual data were coded based on the length of language contact with native speakers of Chinese. The results indicate that difficult tone combinations are context sensitive. It also reveals what strategies learners of Chinese use to produce tones similar to native speakers’ production.

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