scholarly journals An Investigation of Tone Perception and Production in German Learners of Mandarin

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongwei Ding ◽  
Rüdiger Hoffmann ◽  
Oliver Jokisch
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Preliminary Test ◽  
Production Test ◽  
Main Experiment ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Mandarin Tone ◽  
Cross Language

AbstractThis study investigates the possible errors related to Mandarin tone perception and production by German speakers. In a preliminary test, 23 German listeners should identify the tones of 186 monosyllables. Results show that exposure to Mandarin Chinese can help to discriminate lexical tones as highly expected. In the main experiment, 17 German subjects were asked to take part in a perception and production test. Stimulus of perception involves 48 monosyllables uttered by a standard professional Chinese speaker; acoustic measures were conducted to analyze the production of 72 monosyllables for each subject. It is found that German speakers have much smallerf0 range than Chinese native speakers. Findings can provide implications for cross language studies and teaching practices.

The perception of Mandarin lexical tones by native Japanese adult listeners with and without Mandarin learning experience

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimiko Tsukada ◽  
Mariko Kondo ◽  
Kazuko Sunaoka
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Japanese Adult ◽  
Perceptual Accuracy ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Phonetic Context ◽  
Mandarin Tone ◽  
Better Than

Processing lexical tones is known to be difficult for non-native speakers from various language backgrounds. Perceptual accuracy of six Mandarin tone contrasts (T1–T2, T1–T3, T1–T4, T2–T3, T2–T4, T3–T4) of two groups of Japanese listeners (learners and non-learners) and a control group of Mandarin listeners were compared in Mandarin learning experience, phonetic context, and speaker gender. Both Japanese groups perceived T2–T3 poorly, but the learner group was significantly better than the non-learner group for this and the T1–T2 contrasts. The learners’ advantage was observed across various phonetic contexts (initial consonants and tone bearing vowels), suggesting that their tone perception was more stable and resistant to speaker variation. In regard to speaker gender, both Japanese groups perceived the T2–T3 contrast more poorly, and T1–T2 and T1–T4 contrasts more successfully, when produced by female speakers.

Neurolinguistics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Nilipour
Keyword(s):  
Brain Damage ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Classical Model ◽  
Brain Lesion ◽  
Language Models ◽  
Complex Phenomenon ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Unitary Model ◽  
Symptom Complex ◽  
Cross Language

This chapter summarizes some first neurolinguistic studies conducted in Persian, using patholinguistic data taken from monolingual and bilingual brain-damaged patients, as well as five first neuroimaging studies in healthy native speakers of Persian. The patholinguistic data are extracted from formal clinical linguistic assessments of a heterogeneous group of brain-damaged patients with different etiologies and brain lesion sites. The data are indicative of general agrammatic features of ‘syntactic simplification’ and ‘morphological regression’ reported in cross-language studies, along with language-particular agrammatic features in spoken and written modalities for Persian consequent to brain damage. The present patholinguistic data are also suggestive of a ‘non-unitary’ model of aphasia as a symptom complex phenomenon with disruptions of independent linguistic levels consequent to different lesion sites. The data are not supportive of independent production and comprehension language centres claimed in ‘classical model’ of brain and language but in support of new non-narrow localization brain–language models.

High-Variability Phonetic Training Benefits Lexical Tone Perception: An Investigation on Mandarin-Speaking Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Hongwei Ding ◽  
Yang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
High Variability ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Mandarin Tone

Purpose Lexical tone perception is known to be persistently difficult for individuals with cochlear implants (CIs). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of high-variability phonetic training (HVPT) in improving Mandarin tone perception for native-speaking children with CIs. Method A total of 28 Mandarin-speaking pediatric CI recipients participated in the study. Half of the children with CIs received a five-session HVPT within a period of 3 weeks. Identification and discrimination of lexical tones produced by familiar talkers (used during training) and novel talkers (not used during training) were measured before, immediately after, and 10 weeks after training termination. The other half untrained children served as control for the identical pre- and posttests. Results Lexical tone perception significantly improved in both trained identification task and untrained discrimination task for the trainees. There was also a significant effect in transfer of learning to perceiving tones produced by novel talkers. Moreover, training-induced gains were retained for up to 10 weeks after training. By comparison, no significant pre–post changes were observed in the control group. Conclusion The results provide the first systematical assessment for the efficacy of the HVPT protocol for Mandarin-speaking pediatric CI users with congenital hearing loss, which supports the clinical utility of intensive short-term HVPT in these children's rehabilitative regimens.

Dialect Effects on Mandarin Tone Perception Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 002383092110462
Author(s):  
Yuan Zhang ◽  
Yun Zheng ◽  
Gang Li
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Nursery School ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Tone Recognition ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Speech And Language Development ◽  
Mandarin Tone ◽  
Impaired Children

This study aimed to characterize factors that influence early dialect development in a language environment with multiple dialects. Children were evaluated for these dialect effects compared with normal hearing referenced measures of speech and language development that are commonly implemented in hearing-impaired children. Dialect exposure and use were assessed longitudinally in Chinese children (2–6 years old) that were raised in a community where Putonghua (PTH) and Sichuanhua (SCH) Mandarin dialects were used. Lexical tones in these dialects are different. A total of 20 boys and 20 girls (2 years old at the beginning of the study) that attended the same nursery school were included in this study. SCH was used by the majority of subjects <4 years old. The majority of subjects >4 years old used either dialect, with a few users of both dialects at this age. PTH tone perception did not differ significantly as a function of dialect use. Tone recognition and discrimination were >90% accurate by 6 years old, in contrast to previous results for children with minimal exposure and use of PTH. Children with approximately ⩾50% PTH exposure might be accurately assessed with norm-referenced speech materials spoken in PTH, regardless of their preferred dialect. However, the current norm-referenced assessments of children with minimal PTH exposure and nonusers of the dialect might be inaccurate.

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.

Weighting Pitch Contour and Loudness Contour in Mandarin Tone Perception in Cochlear Implant Listeners

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinglin Meng ◽  
Nengheng Zheng ◽  
Ambika Prasad Mishra ◽  
Jacinta Dan Luo ◽  
Jan W. H. Schnupp
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Mandarin Tone

scholarly journals Statistical Speech Segmentation in Tone Languages: The Role of Lexical Tones

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Gómez ◽  
Peggy Mok ◽  
Mikhail Ordin ◽  
Jacques Mehler ◽  
Marina Nespor
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Speech Segmentation ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Transitional Probabilities ◽  
Lexical Processes

Research has demonstrated distinct roles for consonants and vowels in speech processing. For example, consonants have been shown to support lexical processes, such as the segmentation of speech based on transitional probabilities (TPs), more effectively than vowels. Theory and data so far, however, have considered only non-tone languages, that is to say, languages that lack contrastive lexical tones. In the present work, we provide a first investigation of the role of consonants and vowels in statistical speech segmentation by native speakers of Cantonese, as well as assessing how tones modulate the processing of vowels. Results show that Cantonese speakers are unable to use statistical cues carried by consonants for segmentation, but they can use cues carried by vowels. This difference becomes more evident when considering tone-bearing vowels. Additional data from speakers of Russian and Mandarin suggest that the ability of Cantonese speakers to segment streams with statistical cues carried by tone-bearing vowels extends to other tone languages, but is much reduced in speakers of non-tone languages.

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