Identification of Mandarin coarticulated tones by inexperienced and experienced English learners of Mandarin

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunjuan He ◽  
Ratree Wayland
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Disyllabic Words ◽  
Tonal Perception ◽  
Mandarin Tones ◽  
Tonal Context ◽  
Syllable Position

AbstractTwo groups of native English speakers, relatively inexperienced (N = 14) with 3 months of Mandarin study and relatively more experienced (N = 14) with 12 months of study, were asked to identify coarticulated Mandarin lexical tones in disyllabic words. The results show that 1) the experienced learners were better at identifying Mandarin tones than the inexperienced learners, 2) Tones in coarticulation were more difficult to identify than tones in isolation, 3) tonal context and syllable position affected tonal perception, and 4) experienced learners committed fewer tonal direction errors than inexperienced learners. However, experienced learners still made a considerable amount of tonal height errors.

Material and presentation condition effects on sentence interpretation task performance: methodological examinations of the competition experiment

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshinori Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Competition Experiment ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Native Japanese Speakers ◽  
Presentation Condition ◽  
Japanese Word ◽  
The Subject

Ten native English learners of Japanese, ten intermediate native English learners of Japanese and ten native Japanese speakers of English each were requested to report what they thought was the subject or actor of a series of English NVN word strings, in which case marking and lexical-semantics cues were systematically manipulated. These NVN strings were aurally presented first alone, and subsequently the same strings were presented for the second time together with noncanonical NNV and VNN strings. Similarly, their counterpart Japanese NNV strings were first presented alone, and secondly with noncanonical VNN and NVN strings. The results revealed that 1) a greater animacy effect (‘animacy noun as a subject’ bias) was detected when the sentence verb was see rather than eat(or each of their Japanese counterparts); 2) English accusative pronouns generally created greater case biases than nominative ones; and 3) native English speakers interpreting Japanese word strings responded differently under the two presentation conditions.

scholarly journals The effects of high versus low talker variability and individual aptitude on phonetic training of Mandarin lexical tones

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanyu Dong ◽  
Meghan Clayards ◽  
Helen Brown ◽  
Elizabeth Wonnacott
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
High Variability ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Talker Variability ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Effectiveness Of Training ◽  
Phonetic Contrasts ◽  
Mandarin Tones ◽  
And Training

High variability training has been found more effective than low variability training in learning various non-native phonetic contrasts. However, little research has considered whether this applies to the learning of tone contrasts. The only two relevant studies suggested that the effect of high variability training depends on the perceptual aptitude of participants (Perrachione, Lee, Ha, & Wong, 2011; Sadakata & McQueen, 2014). The present study extends these findings by examining the interaction between individual aptitude and input variability using natural, meaningful L2 input (both previous studies used pseudowords). Sixty English speakers took part in an eight session phonetic training paradigm. They were assigned to high/low/high-blocking variability training groups and learned real Mandarin tones and words. Individual aptitude was measured following previous work. Learning was measured using one discrimination task, one identification task and two production tasks. All tasks assessed the generalisation of learning. Overall, all groups improved in both production and perception of tones which transferred to novel voices and items, demonstrating the effectiveness of training despite the increased complexity compared with previous research. Although the low variability group exhibited an advantage with the training stimuli, there was no evidence that the different variability training led to different performance in any of the tests of generalisation. Moreover, although aptitude significantly predicted performance in discrimination, identification and training tasks, no interaction between individual aptitude and variability was revealed. We discuss these results in light of previous findings.

scholarly journals Mapping Writing Development in Young Bilingual Learners

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Hernández ◽  
Magaly Lavadenz ◽  
JESSEA YOUNG
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Program Improvement ◽  
Kindergarten Students ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Metalinguistic Awareness ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Linguistic Resource

A growing interest in Two-Way Bilingual Immersion (TWBI) programs has led to increased attention to bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism. This article describes the writing development in Spanish and English for 49 kindergarten students in a 50/50 Two-Way Bilingual Immersion program. Over the course of an academic year, the authors collected writing samples to analyze evidence of cross-linguistic resource sharing using a grounded theoretical approach to compare and contrast writing samples to determine patterns of cross-linguistic resource sharing in English and Spanish. The authors identified four patterns: phonological, syntactic, lexical, and metalinguistic awareness. Findings indicated that emergent writers applied similar strategies as older bilingual students, including lexical level code-switching, applied phonological rules of L1 to their respective L2s, and used experiential and content knowledge to write in their second language. These findings have instructional implications for both English Learners and native English speakers as well as for learning from students for program improvement.

scholarly journals THE BASIC SPECIFICITY OF THE ABILITY OF VARIED ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUMS TO ENHANCE ENGLISH LEARNERS’ CAPACITY TO DEVELOP NECESSARY SKILLS TO COMMUNICATE USING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-33
Author(s):  
Michael Wayne Hendershot ◽  
Nutprapha K. Dennis ◽  
Suchada Chaiwiwattrakul ◽  
Ratirot Phiphitphakdee
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Effective Use

Inasmuch as the goal of teaching English to non-native English speakers should be focused on enhancing English learners’ ability to develop skills necessary for efficient and effective use of the English language in communication within their daily lives as well as within the context of educational, employment, governmental, and business related issues, the materials and resources used by the teacher to provide said English learners with enhanced ability to develop necessary skills for the use of the English language for efficient and effective communication are of paramount importance. This study was designed as a comparison of English language curriculums between select schools in an effort to determine the effectiveness of the curriculum to enhance students’ abilities to develop skills to be able to effectively and efficiently communicate using the English language. Participants in the study were presented with questions relating to activities of daily life, and conversation thereof, using the English language. The resultant responses to the questions were assessed as to an indication of the participants’ ability to effectively and efficiently communicate using the English language. The comparison involved six grade levels of students from two primary schools and one secondary school. The tabulated results indicated a significant difference in the abilities of the participants to effectively and efficiently communicate using the English language related to curriculums used in schools in which the participants were enrolled at the time of the study.

scholarly journals Generation 1.5 and Academic Libraries: Strategies for Supporting English Learners (ELs) in Reference and Instruction

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 100-117
Author(s):  
Megan Margino Marchese
Keyword(s):  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Generation 1.5 ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Academic Challenges ◽  
K 12

Background – Compared to native English speakers, English Learners (ELs) often face additional barriers to academic success. Though typically competent in social English, Generation 1.5 ELs struggle with academic English at the postsecondary level and are still considered to be in the process of learning English. As colleges become increasingly linguistically diverse, academic librarians must adapt to support the growing numbers of ELs in the campus community. Objective – This paper aims to provide academic librarians with information on the scope of English Learners in K-12 through postsecondary education, academic challenges of Generation 1.5 students at the postsecondary level, and strategies that librarians can employ to support English learners in the contexts of reference and instruction. Methods – The author searched journals in the disciplines of academic libraries, higher education, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and linguistics. Additional resources searched include education data and statistics, research institute publications, and English as a New Language (ENL) teaching resources. These sources were explored in regard to the topics of EL educational statistics, K-12 ENL programs, ENL pedagogy, ELs in postsecondary education, Generation 1.5 students, ELs’ academic challenges and educational needs, and academic libraries and ELs. Results – A review of the literature on ELs in academic libraries, particularly Generation 1.5 students, reveals that Generation 1.5 is a population that is in need of support at the postsecondary level. Because Generation 1.5 students often hold strong social English skills, they may enter college without an EL designation or specialized academic support. However, research shows that Generation 1.5 students struggle with college-level academic English, specifically in grammar and vocabulary. These challenges impact students’ communicative success both in college classroom and library environments. Conclusion – Academic librarians may adopt pedagogical strategies commonly employed in ENL classrooms to use in reference and instruction environments. Techniques include themes such as awareness of language use and reinforcement of content, and require low-stakes implementation into library practice. Though librarians may be unaware of the language learning needs of their students, such strategies have shown to be useful for all students. Because techniques that are helpful to ELs also typically benefit all students, these strategies are also applicable to native English speakers.

scholarly journals Exploring Learners’ Perceptions and Experiences of Native English Speakers’ Roles in Learning Process: A Case Study at Dila Samawa English Club Sumbawa Besar

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Darmanto Darmanto
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Field Note ◽  
Good Learning

This current study focused on exploring the learners’ perceptions and experiences of native-English speakers’ roles in the learning process. This exploration was guided by the following questions: (1) What are the learners’ perceptions and experiences of native-English speakers’ roles in the learning process? (2) How do the learners perceive and experience native-English speakers’ roles in the learning process? A case study method was employed. The participants were all of the English learners who continuously joined Dila Samawa English Club in Sumbawa Besar. To collect the data, three techniques were employed: observation, interview, and documentation. The process of the interview was audio-recorded. Meanwhile, field note was used during the observation. Documentations were in the form of the learning activities document. The results of the study showed that the learners’ perceptions of native-English speakers’ roles in the learning process could be categorized into a number of terms, including the natural exposure, the place for practicing English conversation, competence in teaching, and teaching strategy. Meanwhile, the learners’ experiences fell into authentic learning, good creators in the teaching method, and good learning motivators. Essentially, those perceptions and experiences were considered very helpful to stimulate learners’ willingness and efforts to learn English, especially build up the learners’ confidence and enthusiasm in using English in real life situation.

ESL learners’ intra-speaker variability in producing American English tense and lax vowels

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce L. Smith ◽  
Eric Johnson ◽  
Rachel Hayes-Harb
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Speaker Variability ◽  
Production Variability ◽  
Vowel Formants ◽  
Esl Learners

Abstract Nonnative (L2) English learners are often assumed to exhibit greater speech production variability than native (L1) speakers; however, support for this assumption is primarily limited to secondary observations rather than having been the specific focus of empirical investigations. The present study examined intra-speaker variability associated with L2 English learners’ tense and lax vowel productions to determine whether they showed comparable or greater intra-speaker variability than native English speakers. First and second formants of three tense/lax vowel pairs were measured, and Coefficient of Variation was calculated for 10 native speakers of American English and 30 nonnative speakers. The L2 speakers’ vowel formants were found to be native-like approximately half of the time. Whether their formants were native-like or not, however, they seldom showed greater intra-speaker variability than the L1 speakers.

The perception of Mandarin lexical tones by listeners from different linguistic backgrounds

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimiko Tsukada ◽  
Hui Ling Xu ◽  
Nan Xu Rattanasone
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Accurate Perception ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Mandarin Tones

AbstractTwo groups of non-native adult learners of Mandarin in Australia were directly compared in their ability to perceive monosyllabic Mandarin words contrasting in lexical tones. They differed in their linguistic experience (non-heritage (n=10), heritage (n=12)). A group of eight native Mandarin speakers and a group of ten functionally monolingual speakers of Australian English were included as controls. All non-native learners used English as their primary language of communication. However, the heritage learners were able to communicate in Cantonese as well as English. The primary question of interest was whether heritage learners’ knowledge of contrastive tone in Cantonese might give them an advantage over English-speaking learners in perceiving tone contrasts in Mandarin. In general, there were more similarities than differences between the two groups of learners in their response patterns. Of the six tone contrasts examined (T1-T2, T1-T3, T1-T4, T2-T3, T2-T4, T3-T4), the two groups significantly differed only on T1-T4. The heritage learners were less accurate on T1-T4 than the non-heritage learners who are monolingual speakers of Australian English. On the other hand, the non-heritage learners were more accurate than Australian English speakers with no prior experience with Mandarin on all tone contrasts. Thus, we conclude that simply having an exposure to and functional knowledge of another tonal language since early childhood does not guarantee accurate perception of Mandarin tones in comparison with adult learners without prior experience with tonal languages.

Grammatical number of English nouns in English Learners' Dictionaries

English Today ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Ling Zou ◽  
Ju-Lan Feng ◽  
Ya-Ping Zheng
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Plural Form ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Unit Of Measurement ◽  
Grammatical Number ◽  
Chinese And English

Chinese and English belong to different language families, so they often have different forms of expression. Chinese has no definite grammatical category of number and has almost no number inflection. Plural meaning is usually implied in the syntactic structure or in the context by a bare noun, or is expressed through the plural marker 们 and the numerical adjectives such as many, numerous and each, as well as by quantifiers and reduplications. However, English nouns express number category by inflection as well as by quantifiers at times, so their grammatical number is far more complicated than that of Chinese nouns. From the point of view of grammatical form, English nouns are often considered as countable and uncountable nouns. Uncountable nouns cannot be directly modified by a numeral without unit specification, nor can they be combined with an indefinite article. Thus, cheese is quantified as three slices of cheese. However, uncountable nouns can also be quantified without specifying a unit of measurement, such as much coal. A number of uncountable nouns can be used in the plural form to mean ‘a large amount of’ as in the following example from Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (hereinafter, LDCE) ‘The ship drifted into Turkish territorial waters’. In such cases, although water is uncountable, it has the plural form. In some cases, native English speakers can turn the theoretical uncountable nouns into countable ones (Landau, 2001). There seems to be no absolute boundary between countable and uncountable nouns.

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