Cross-Language Perception of Non-Native Tonal Contrasts: Effects of Native Phonological and Phonetic Influences

Autor/inn/en	So, Connie K.; Best, Catherine T.
Titel	Cross-Language Perception of Non-Native Tonal Contrasts: Effects of Native Phonological and Phonetic Influences
Quelle	In: Language and Speech, 53 (2010) 2, S.273-293 (21 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0023-8309
DOI	10.1177/0023830909357156
Schlagwörter	Phonetics; Tone Languages; Foreign Countries; Mandarin Chinese; Intonation; Identification; Task Analysis; Auditory Perception; English; Japanese; Native Speakers; Familiarity; Cues; Sino Tibetan Languages; Error Analysis (Language); Linguistic Theory; Role; Phonology; Contrastive Linguistics; Difficulty Level; Second Languages; Hong Kong + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Phonetik; Fonetik; Tonsprache; Ausland; Identifikation; Identifizierung; Aufgabenanalyse; Auditive Wahrnehmung; Akustische Wahrnehmung; Akustik; English language; Englisch; Japaner; Japanisch; Muttersprachler; Stichwort; Error analysis; Language; Fehleranalyse; Linguistische Theorie; Rollen; Fonologie; Linguistics; Kontrastive Linguistik; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Second language; Zweitsprache; Hongkong
Abstract	This study examined the perception of the four Mandarin lexical tones by Mandarin-naive Hong Kong Cantonese, Japanese, and Canadian English listener groups. Their performance on an identification task, following a brief familiarization task, was analyzed in terms of tonal sensitivities (A-prime scores on correct identifications) and tonal errors (confusions). The A-prime results revealed that the English listeners' sensitivity to Tone 4 identifications specifically was significantly lower than that of the other two groups. The analysis of tonal errors revealed that all listener groups showed perceptual confusion of tone pairs with similar phonetic features (T1-T2, T1-T4 and T2-T3 pairs), but not of those with completely dissimilar features (T1-T3, T2-T4, and T3-T4). Language-specific errors were also observed in their performance, which may be explained within the framework of the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM: Best, 1995; Best & Tyler, 2007). The findings imply that linguistic experience with native tones does not necessarily facilitate non-native tone perception. Rather, the phonemic status and the phonetic features (similarities or dissimilarities) between the tonal systems of the target language and the listeners' native languages play critical roles in the perception of non-native tones. (Contains 1 table, 3 figures, and 9 footnotes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10