scholarly journals The Effect of Speech Variability on Tonal Language Speakers’ Second Language Lexical Tone Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaile Zhang ◽  
Gang Peng ◽  
Yonghong Li ◽  
James W. Minett ◽  
William S-Y. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Speech Variability

scholarly journals fMRI Evidence for Cortical Modification during Learning of Mandarin Lexical Tone

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1019-1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Wang ◽  
Joan A. Sereno ◽  
Allard Jongman ◽  
Joy Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Broca’S Area ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Broca's Area ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Wernicke’S Area

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was employed before and after six native English speakers completed lexical tone training as part of a program to learn Mandarin as a second language. Language-related areas including Broca's area, Wernicke's area, auditory cortex, and supplementary motor regions were active in all subjects before and after training and did not vary in average location. Across all subjects, improvements in performance were associated with an increase in the spatial extent of activation in left superior temporal gyrus (Brodmann's area 22, putative Wernicke's area), the emergence of activity in adjacent Brodmann's area 42, and the emergence of activity in right inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann's area 44), a homologue of putative Broca's area. These findings demonstrate a form of enrichment plasticity in which the early cortical effects of learning a tone-based second language involve both expansion of preexisting language-related areas and recruitment of additional cortical regions specialized for functions similar to the new language functions.

scholarly journals Arguments for a Privative L Tone in Northern Tepehuan

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Ivanhoe Gil Burgoin
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Stress Assignment ◽  
Syllable Weight ◽  
System L ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Low Constraint ◽  
Heavy Syllable ◽  
Tonal System

This paper proposes that Northern Tepehuan is a tonal language with just one lexical tone 'low tone' and is therefore a privative tonal system. L tone is sufficient to explain the pitch contrasts in the language and also necessary to explain the "inconsistencies" of stress assignment. Stress is normally predictable from the size of the word, from syllable-weight, and is cued by a H* intonational tone. Nonetheless, in words that do not obey the Stress-to-Weight constraint, it could be argued that stress is displaced from the heavy syllable by virtue of a high-ranked *Align(Head/Low) constraint that prohibits the placement of stress on a syllable with a lexical L. The L tone also explains why the H* intonational tone can be displaced from stressed syllables.

scholarly journals Lexical function of pitch in the first language shapes cross-linguistic perception of Thai tones

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vance Schaefer ◽  
Isabelle Darcy
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Learner Perception ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Pitch Patterns ◽  
Lexical Function ◽  
Pitch System ◽  
Contour Tones

AbstractDetermining the factors involved in the non-native perception of the pitch patterns of tones is complicated by the fact that all languages use pitch to various extents, whether linguistic (e.g., intonation) or non-linguistic (e.g., singing). Moreover, many languages use pitch to distinguish lexical items with varying degrees of functional load and differences in inventory of such pitch patterns. The current study attempts to understand what factors determine accurate naïve (= non-learner) perception of non-native tones, in order to establish the baseline for acquisition of a tonal L2. We examine the perception of Thai tones (i.e., three level tones, two contour tones) by speakers of languages on a spectrum of lexically contrastive pitch usage: Mandarin (lexical tone), Japanese (lexical pitch accent), English (lexical stress), and Korean (no lexically contrastive pitch). Results suggest that the importance of lexically contrastive pitch in the L1 influences non-native tone perception so that not all non-tonal language speakers possess the same level of tonal sensitivity, resulting in a hierarchy of perceptual accuracy. Referencing the Feature Hypothesis (McAllister et al. 2002), we propose the Functional Pitch Hypothesis to model our findings: the degree to which linguistic pitch differentiates lexical items in the L1 shapes the naïve perception of a non-native lexically contrastive pitch system, e.g., tones.

Unfamiliar orthographic information and second language word learning: A novel lexicon study

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. Showalter ◽  
Rachel Hayes-Harb
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Learning Groups ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
New Words ◽  
Auditory Word ◽  
Phonological Feature

Recent research indicates that knowledge of words’ spellings can influence knowledge of the phonological forms of second language (L2) words when the first and second languages use the same orthographic symbols. It is yet unknown whether learners can make similar use of unfamiliar orthographic symbols. In this study we investigate whether native English speakers use orthographic tone marks to help them associate lexical tone with new L2 words? Native English speakers with no knowledge of Mandarin were assigned to ‘Tone Marks’ or ‘No Tone Marks’ word learning groups. During a word learning phase, they learned to associate Mandarin nonwords varying in lexical tone with orthographic forms (written in pinyin with/without tone marks) and pictured ‘meanings’. In Experiment 1, participants were asked whether a picture associated with, for example, tone 1 matched an auditory form containing tone 2. Tone Marks participants outperformed No Tone Marks participants, suggesting that the availability of unfamiliar orthographic symbols helped them associate lexical tone with the new words. In Experiment 2, the test involved matching an orthographic representation and an auditory word. Tone Marks participants performed above chance, while No Tone Marks participants did not, indicating that Tone Marks participants learned the correspondences between auditory tones and tone marks to some extent. We conclude that the presence of a novel orthographic feature (in this case, tone marks) can support native English speakers’ ability to associate a novel phonological feature (in this case, lexical tone) with newly-learned lexical items.

scholarly journals Advanced Second Language Learners of Mandarin Show Persistent Deficits for Lexical Tone Encoding in Picture-to-Word Form Matching

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Pelzl ◽  
Ellen F. Lau ◽  
Taomei Guo ◽  
Robert M. DeKeyser
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Lexical Decision Tasks ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Decision Tasks

People who grow up speaking a language without lexical tones typically find it difficult to master tonal languages after childhood. Accumulating research suggests that much of the challenge for these second language (L2) speakers has to do not with identification of the tones themselves, but with the bindings between tones and lexical units. The question that remains open is how much of these lexical binding problems are problems of encoding (incomplete knowledge of the tone-to-word relations) vs. retrieval (failure to access those relations in online processing). While recent work using lexical decision tasks suggests that both may play a role, one issue is that failure on a lexical decision task may reflect a lack of learner confidence about what is not a word, rather than non-native representation or processing of known words. Here we provide complementary evidence using a picture-phonology matching paradigm in Mandarin in which participants decide whether or not a spoken target matches a specific image, with concurrent event-related potential (ERP) recording to provide potential insight into differences in L1 and L2 tone processing strategies. As in the lexical decision case, we find that advanced L2 learners show a clear disadvantage in accurately identifying tone mismatched targets relative to vowel mismatched targets. We explore the contribution of incomplete/uncertain lexical knowledge to this performance disadvantage by examining individual data from an explicit tone knowledge post-test. Results suggest that explicit tone word knowledge and confidence explains some but not all of the errors in picture-phonology matching. Analysis of ERPs from correct trials shows some differences in the strength of L1 and L2 responses, but does not provide clear evidence toward differences in processing that could explain the L2 disadvantage for tones. In sum, these results converge with previous evidence from lexical decision tasks in showing that advanced L2 listeners continue to have difficulties with lexical tone recognition, and in suggesting that these difficulties reflect problems both in encoding lexical tone knowledge and in retrieving that knowledge in real time.

scholarly journals Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-99
Author(s):  
Lani Freeborn ◽  
John Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Stepwise Multiple Regression ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Predictor Model

Abstract Previous research findings have established that a number of nonlinguistic factors can influence the strength of perceived foreign accent in second language (L2) speech. However, the majority of past studies have predominantly considered foreign accent of Indo-European languages, notably English. Therefore, it remains unknown whether the same factors influence foreign accent in other languages, such as Mandarin. This article reports findings from a study on nonlinguistic factors affecting the degree of foreign accent in Mandarin as an L2. Seventy L2 learners of Mandarin Chinese recorded speech samples and completed language background questionnaires. Speech samples were rated by 15 native Mandarin speakers for the degree of foreign accent on a 9-point Likert scale. Stepwise multiple regression analysis resulted in a 3-predictor model of pronunciation accuracy: self-rating of foreign accent, Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì (HSK) proficiency level, and motivational reasons. Results suggest that (1) foreign accent in L2 Mandarin may not be affected by the same factors as in previous L2 accent studies and (2) the concepts of accentedness and comprehensibility may be more intricately linked in lexical tone languages such as Mandarin, in comparison to nontonal languages. These findings have wider implications for the field of L2 acquisition, which is dominated by studies of L2 English.

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