Acquiring the pitch patterns of L2 Mandarin Chinese

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunsheng Yang
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
First Language ◽  
Tone Sequence ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Subject Group ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Pitch Patterns ◽  
L1 And L2

AbstractThis study examines the acquisition of utterance-level pitch patterns in Mandarin Chinese by American second language (L2) learners. It is an exploratory study with the goal of identifying the utterance-level prosody in L2 Mandarin Chinese. The focus of this study is not on the pitch patterns of individual learners but those of subject groups. The analysis shows that the pitch patterns between two syntactic structures for the same tone sequence vary with the tone sequence and the subject group. The biggest difference between first language (L1) and L2 Mandarin Chinese lies in the frequency of target undershoot in L2 speech. The infrequent tone target undershoot in L2 speech, especially among the intermediate learners, was attributed to the incomplete acquisition of L2 prosody. It was argued that the infrequent tone target undershoot may render L2 speech more staccato or robot-like, which contributes to the perception of a foreign accent in L2 Mandarin Chinese.

Acoustic Sources of Accent in Second Language Japanese Speech

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaori Idemaru ◽  
Peipei Wei ◽  
Lucy Gubbins
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
First Language ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Chinese Speakers

This study reports an exploratory analysis of the acoustic characteristics of second language (L2) speech which give rise to the perception of a foreign accent. Japanese speech samples were collected from American English and Mandarin Chinese speakers ( n = 16 in each group) studying Japanese. The L2 participants and native speakers ( n = 10) provided speech samples modeling after six short sentences. Segmental (vowels and stops) and prosodic features (rhythm, tone, and fluency) were examined. Native Japanese listeners ( n = 10) rated the samples with regard to degrees of foreign accent. The analyses predicting accent ratings based on the acoustic measurements indicated that one of the prosodic features in particular, tone (defined as high and low patterns of pitch accent and intonation in this study), plays an important role in robustly predicting accent rating in L2 Japanese across the two first language (L1) backgrounds. These results were consistent with the prediction based on phonological and phonetic comparisons between Japanese and English, as well as Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. The results also revealed L1-specific predictors of perceived accent in Japanese. The findings of this study contribute to the growing literature that examines sources of perceived foreign accent.

scholarly journals Assessing critical thinking in L2: An exploratory study

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-21
Author(s):  
Sam Reid ◽  
Peter Chin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
First Language ◽  
Test Format ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Rating Accuracy ◽  
Ct Test ◽  
L1 And L2

Critical thinking (CT) is taking on an increasingly important role in Japanese tertiary education. Teachers tasked with developing CT in a second-language (L2) context may need a way of assessing students’ abilities. However, a number of difficulties face L2 students taking a test designed for first-language (L1) speakers. They may be disadvantaged by linguistic and perhaps cultural issues. This study describes an exploratory attempt to make a CT test that can be administered to learners of English and which allows them to display selected elements of CT, specifically analyzing arguments and judging or evaluating. A comparison of L1 and L2 performance in the test showed the results to be comparable. Analysis of two different question topics showed differences in CT skills displayed. Issues with rating accuracy are linked to the format of the test. We argue that this test format is suitable for many students in Japan and elsewhere who have intermediate levels of English.

scholarly journals Assessing critical thinking in L2: An exploratory study

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-21
Author(s):  
Sam Reid ◽  
Peter Chin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
First Language ◽  
Test Format ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Rating Accuracy ◽  
Ct Test ◽  
L1 And L2

Critical thinking (CT) is taking on an increasingly important role in Japanese tertiary education. Teachers tasked with developing CT in a second-language (L2) context may need a way of assessing students’ abilities. However, a number of difficulties face L2 students taking a test designed for first-language (L1) speakers. They may be disadvantaged by linguistic and perhaps cultural issues. This study describes an exploratory attempt to make a CT test that can be administered to learners of English and which allows them to display selected elements of CT, specifically analyzing arguments and judging or evaluating. A comparison of L1 and L2 performance in the test showed the results to be comparable. Analysis of two different question topics showed differences in CT skills displayed. Issues with rating accuracy are linked to the format of the test. We argue that this test format is suitable for many students in Japan and elsewhere who have intermediate levels of English.

Fine-Grained Pitch Discrimination in Congenital Amusics with Mandarin Chinese

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cunmei Jiang ◽  
Jeff P. Hamm ◽  
Vanessa K. Lim ◽  
Ian J. Kirk ◽  
Yufang Yang
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
First Language ◽  
Tone Sequence ◽  
Pitch Discrimination ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Tone Discrimination ◽  
Better Than

a group of 11 amusic individuals with mandarin as their first language were tested on a two-tone discrimination task. In addition, a four-tone sequence task with an additional initial reference note and a final return to the reference note (i.e., AABA) was employed to assess if repeating the reference note resulted in an improvement of pitch discrimination for amusic individuals. The findings showed that the amusic participants had difficulty discriminating two-tone pairs and four-tone sequences relative to 11 control participants. The performance of the amusic group on the four-tone sequence was not better than that predicted based upon their performance during the two-tone task, indicating that repetition of the reference note did not aid performance. The findings suggest that tonal language experience may not facilitate fine-grained pitch discrimination for amusics who speak Mandarin Chinese as their first language.

Foreign Accent in Adult Simultaneous Bilinguals

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Kupisch ◽  
Dagmar Barton ◽  
Katja Hailer ◽  
Ewgenia Klaschik ◽  
Ilse Stangen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
L1 And L2

The study reported in this paper examines foreign accent (FA) in adult simultaneous bilinguals (2L1ers). Specifically, we investigate how accent is affected if a first language is acquired as a minority (heritage) language as compared to a majority (dominant) language. We compare the perceived FA in both languages of 38 adult 2L1ers (German-French and German-Italian) to that of monolingual native speakers (L1ers) and late second language learners (L2ers). Naturalistic speech samples are judged by 84 native speakers of the respective languages. Results indicate that the majority language is always spoken without an FA, while results for the heritage language fall between those of L1 and L2 speakers. For the heritage language, we further show that a native accent correlates with length of residence in the heritage country during childhood but not during adulthood. Furthermore, raters have comparatively more difficulties when judging the accent of a heritage speaker. The results of this study add to our current understanding of what factors shape the phonology of a heritage language system in adulthood.

Measuring Service Quality in The Context of Higher Education in Vietnam

2013 ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Yen Nguyen Thi Hoang
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Education Service ◽  
The Subject

This paper focuses on the understanding of service quality in the context of Vietnamese universities. It proposes an approach for measuring the quality of the higher education service provided by universities in Vietnam. Firstly, an exploratory study was conducted. Then, the set of items which were generated became the subject of a questionnaire that was then administered to 675 students of a Vietnamese university to determine the dimensions of higher education service quality in this context. The obtained results permit us to appropriate a measurement scale which is slightly different from the SERVQUAL scale widely known as the standard for measuring service quality. The results also show that tangible elements, responsiveness and assurance seem to be three specific dimensions of the higher education service of Vietnamese universities.

The computation and suspension of presuppositions by L1-Mandarin Chinese L2-English speakers

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832199387
Author(s):  
Shuo Feng
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Similar Response ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Precise Understanding ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
External Interface ◽  
Discourse Interface

The Interface Hypothesis proposes that second language (L2) learners, even at highly proficient levels, often fail to integrate information at the external interfaces where grammar interacts with other cognitive systems. While much early L2 work has focused on the syntax–discourse interface or scalar implicatures at the semantics–pragmatics interface, the present article adds to this line of research by exploring another understudied phenomenon at the semantics–pragmatics interface, namely, presuppositions. Furthermore, this study explores both inference computation and suspension via a covered-box picture-selection task. Specifically, this study investigates the interpretation of a presupposition trigger stop and stop under negation. The results from 38 native English speakers and 41 first language (L1) Mandarin Chinese learners of English indicated similar response patterns between native and L2 groups in computing presuppositions but not in suspending presuppositions. That is, L2 learners were less likely to suspend presuppositions than native speakers. This study contributes to a more precise understanding of L2 acquisition at the external interface level, as well as computation and suspension of pragmatic inferences.

scholarly journals Longitudinal Developments in Bilingual Second Language Acquisition and First Language Attrition of Speech: The Case of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Lisa Kornder ◽  
Ineke Mennen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
First Language ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
First Language Attrition ◽  
Second Formant ◽  
L1 And L2

The purpose of this investigation was to trace first (L1) and second language (L2) segmental speech development in the Austrian German–English late bilingual Arnold Schwarzenegger over a period of 40 years, which makes it the first study to examine a bilingual’s speech development over several decades in both their languages. To this end, acoustic measurements of voice onset time (VOT) durations of word-initial plosives (Study 1) and formant frequencies of the first and second formant of Austrian German and English monophthongs (Study 2) were conducted using speech samples collected from broadcast interviews. The results of Study 1 showed a merging of Schwarzenegger’s German and English voiceless plosives in his late productions as manifested in a significant lengthening of VOT duration in his German plosives, and a shortening of VOT duration in his English plosives, closer to L1 production norms. Similar findings were evidenced in Study 2, revealing that some of Schwarzenegger’s L1 and L2 vowel categories had moved closer together in the course of L2 immersion. These findings suggest that both a bilingual’s first and second language accent is likely to develop and reorganize over time due to dynamic interactions between the first and second language system.

scholarly journals Interdependence between L1 and L2: The case of Syrian children with refugee backgrounds in Canada and the Netherlands

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Elma Blom ◽  
Adriana Soto-Corominas ◽  
Zahraa Attar ◽  
Evangelia Daskalaki ◽  
Johanne Paradis
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
First Language ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Syntactic Skills ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Bilingual Language Development ◽  
Dutch Sample ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Children who are refugees become bilingual in circumstances that are often challenging and that can vary across national contexts. We investigated the second language (L2) syntactic skills of Syrian children aged 6-12 living in Canada (n = 56) and the Netherlands (n = 47). Our goal was to establish the impact of the first language (L1 = Syrian Arabic) skills on L2 (English, Dutch) outcomes and whether L1–L2 interdependence is influenced by the length of L2 exposure. To measure L1 and L2 syntactic skills, cross-linguistic Litmus Sentence Repetition Tasks (Litmus-SRTs) were used. Results showed evidence of L1–L2 interdependence, but interdependence may only surface after sufficient L2 exposure. Maternal education level and refugee camp experiences differed between the two samples. Both variables impacted L2 outcomes in the Canadian but not in the Dutch sample, demonstrating the importance to examine refugee children’s bilingual language development in different national contexts.

Perceived foreign accent in first language attrition and second language acquisition: The impact of age of acquisition and bilingualism—ERRATUM

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
HOLGER HOPP ◽  
MONIKA S. SCHMID
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Open Access ◽  
First Language ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Language Attrition ◽  
First Language Attrition ◽  
The Impact

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