KUPPL
The University of Kansas
15 Blake Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045-3129
Phone: 785-864-3414
Fax: 785-864-5724
|
|
Journal of the Acoustical
Society of America, 106
(6), 3649-3658
Training
American listeners to perceive Mandarin tones
Yue Wang,
Michelle M. Spence, Allard Jongman and Joan A. Sereno
| Auditory training
has been shown to be effective in the identification of non-native segmental
distinctions. In this study, it was investigated whether such training is
applicable to the acquisition of non-native suprasegmental contrasts, i.e.,
Mandarin tones. Using the high-variability paradigm, eight American learners
of Mandarin were trained in eight sessions during the course of two weeks
to identify the four tones in natural words produced by native Mandarin
talkers. The trainees' identification accuracy revealed an average 21% increase
from the pretest to the post-test, and the improvement gained in training
was generalized to new stimuli (18% increase) and to new talkers and stimuli
(25% increase). Moreover, the six-month retention test showed that the improvement
was retained long after training by an average 21% increase from the pretest.
The results are discussed in terms of non-native suprasegmental perceptual
modification, and the analogies between L2 acquisition processes at the
segmental and suprasegmental levels. |
|
|
