Speech perception of English as a foreign language by Mandarin Chinese speakers

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mian Wu
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Chinese Speakers

scholarly journals The use of discourse markers but and so by native English speakers and Chinese speakers of English

Pragmatics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binmei Liu
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Oral Discourse ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

Abstract Previous studies have found that but and so occur frequently in native and non-native English speakers’ speech and that they are easy to acquire by non-native English speakers. The current study compared ideational and pragmatic functions of but and so by native and non-native speakers of English. Data for the study were gathered using individual sociolinguistic interviews with five native English speakers and ten L1 Chinese speakers. The results suggest that even though the Chinese speakers of English acquired the ideational functions of but and so as well as the native English speakers, they underused the pragmatic functions of them. The findings indicate that there is still a gap between native and non-native English speakers in communicative competence in the use of but and so. The present study also suggests that speakers’ L1 (Mandarin Chinese) and overall oral proficiency in oral discourse affect their use of but and so.

Znaczenie intuicji językowej w procesie antycypacji – na przykładzie komunikacji obcojęzycznej

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (24 A) ◽  
pp. 137-149
Author(s):  
Wioletta A. Piegzik
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Schema ◽  
Language Communication ◽  
Language User ◽  
The Right ◽  
Selection Of

This paper presents the phenomenon of anticipation which is one of the manifestations of linguistic maturity and language user rationality. Anticipation, taking place essentially in implicit structures and based on evolutionary old intuition, improves speech comprehension and increases the efficiency of cognitive processes. The phenomenon in question is presented on the example of foreign language communication, because it is there that the mechanisms governing the formulation of accurate hypotheses about form and content are particularly evident. The first part of the article discusses speech perception, and with it the categorization and selection of an appropriate cognitive schema conditioning accurate anticipation. The second part presents factors that facilitate and hinder the right hypothesis. Finally, conclusions and directions for future research on anticipation are formulated.

Influence of Musical Expertise on Segmental and Tonal Processing in Mandarin Chinese

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2701-2715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Marie ◽  
Franco Delogu ◽  
Giulia Lampis ◽  
Marta Olivetti Belardinelli ◽  
Mireille Besson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Perceptual Processing ◽  
Language Transfer ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Musical Expertise ◽  
Tonal Processing

A same–different task was used to test the hypothesis that musical expertise improves the discrimination of tonal and segmental (consonant, vowel) variations in a tone language, Mandarin Chinese. Two four-word sequences (prime and target) were presented to French musicians and nonmusicians unfamiliar with Mandarin, and event-related brain potentials were recorded. Musicians detected both tonal and segmental variations more accurately than nonmusicians. Moreover, tonal variations were associated with higher error rate than segmental variations and elicited an increased N2/N3 component that developed 100 msec earlier in musicians than in nonmusicians. Finally, musicians also showed enhanced P3b components to both tonal and segmental variations. These results clearly show that musical expertise influenced the perceptual processing as well as the categorization of linguistic contrasts in a foreign language. They show positive music-to-language transfer effects and open new perspectives for the learning of tone languages.

English Nasalance Values of Chinese Learners of English

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yilan Liu ◽  
Sue Ann S. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Production ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Chinese Learners Of English

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate nasalance scores of speakers of different languages, little research has examined the nasalance characteristics of second language learners. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The goal of the current study was to examine whether English nasalance values of Mandarin Chinese speakers are similar to those of native English speakers, examining the potential effect of the first language on the nasalance scores of the second language production. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Thirty-two adults (16 Mandarin Chinese speakers and 16 native English speakers) with a normal velopharyngeal anatomy participated. Nasalance scores of various speech stimuli were obtained using a nasometer and compared between the 2 groups. <b><i>Results and Conclusions:</i></b> Chinese learners of English produced higher nasalance scores than native English speakers on prolonged vowel /i/ and /a/, the syllable “nin,” and non-nasal sentences and passages. The first language effect on nasalance of the second language found in the current study suggests the importance of linguistic consideration in the clinical evaluation of resonance.

Tone and intonation in Mandarin babytalk to presyllabic infants: Comparison with registers of adult conversation and foreign language instruction

1991 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mechthild Papoušek ◽  
Shu-Fen C. Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Foreign Language Instruction

ABSTRACTSix native speakers of Mandarin Chinese recorded 140 preselected utterances in three role-play contexts that differentially elicited registers of babytalk to presyllabic infants (BTP), foreign language instruction (FLI), and adult conversation (AC). Sound spectrograms were used to obtain 10 measures of fundamental frequency (Fo) patterns for comparisons among the three registers. In FLI, the speakers expanded Fo patterns in time and Fo range in comparison with AC. They clarified lexical tonal information and seemed to reduce suprasegmental information. In BTP, the speakers raised peak and minimum Fo, reduced the rate of Fo fluctuations, and increased the proportion of terminal rising contours. The speakers reduced, neglected, or modified lexical tonal information in favor of simplified and clarified intonation contours. The significance of the results is discussed in relation to tone acquisition in children and to a universal intuitive didactic competence in caretakers.

scholarly journals The Impact of a Cultural Research Course Project on Foreign Language Students’ Intercultural Competence and Language Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Li ◽  
Yingqin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Language Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Foreign Language Students

This study explores whether using a cultural research course project can positively impact foreign language students’ intercultural competence and language learning. Using a case study method, the researchers recruited 12 student participants from an Intermediate Mandarin Chinese I class and from an Introduction to Mandarin Chinese I class in the Fall 2014 semester at a small public southwest university in USA. The project asked the participants to do a PowerPoint oral presentation on special topics from the target language culture and then to write a reflective cultural comparison English essay on this learning experience during the final exam. The findings show that, through doing the project, the students have improved their intercultural competence in that they have a more positive attitude towards “otherness,” enriched their cultural knowledge of the target language society and  that of their own, and obtained skills in critically appreciating and evaluating both similarities and differences  between the target language culture and their own. The students also expanded their language learning experience beyond the classroom and textbook and acquired better language skills in listening, speaking, and writing Chinese characters while they became more interested in and motivated by learning the target language and culture. Recommendations for future study are discussed.

scholarly journals Training Japanese Speakers to Identify Nasal Codas of Mandarin Chinese

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Ruining. Yang ◽  
Hiroaki. Nanjo ◽  
Masatake. Danstuji
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
High Variability ◽  
Early Research ◽  
Identification Accuracy ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Training Process ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Experimental Group

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of high variability training on “-n” and “-ng” in Mandarin Chinese. 46 Japanese native speakers who study Mandarin Chinese as a second foreign language at a university in Japan were divided into one experimental group and one control group. Participants assigned to the experimental group trained themselves using software, which was developed in our early research. Participants in the control group took Chinese lessons normally. Identification tasks (ITs) were conducted before and after the training. After 12 sessions, the average identification accuracy of nasal codas increased 7.1% (p < .05) in the experimental group, however, decreased 1.2% (p > .05) in the control group. Results of the training process prove that the training was effective for some participants, while had little effect on other participants. From the questionnaires, we found that there is a disagreement between the participants’ subjective ability to identify nasal codas and the actual identification accuracy in ITs. Participants underestimate their ability to identify “-n” and “-ng” before training and overestimate their ability to identify “-n” and “-ng” after training. We made a formula to predict the accuracy of ITs (y) in the last 4 training sessions (x): y = 2.13x2 - 2.35x + 1.23. This formula will help participants to grasp the training process and predict their identification ability.

scholarly journals Loan words and Internet expressions in Chinese linguistics

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (46) ◽  
pp. 201-208
Author(s):  
Luan Luan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
The Media ◽  
Translation Methods ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Goals And Objectives

The article examines loan words and modern Internet language in Chinese, the method of their translation, the mechanism of their transformation into stable expressions of the normative language. With the development of globalization and information technology, some neologisms and new expressions appear in the Chinese language. The study of this problem allows us to show the dynamic nature of the language, to consider the interaction of language and the development of society. The goals and objectives of the study are to identify the semantic volume of some loan words in the Chinese language, to analyze the impact of translation on the linguistic picture of the world, to explore new expressions associated with information science. For the study, an associative experiment is carried out among Chinese respondents, language fragments from the media and the corpus of the modern Chinese language are analyzed. It is indicated that when entering into the Chinese linguistic composition, foreign-language words and the Internet language are often given a Chinese mentality and worldview. Different translation methods will have a certain impact on the cognition and world outlook of native Chinese speakers.

scholarly journals Original language subtitles: Their effects on the native and foreign viewer

Comunicar ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (50) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Louis Kruger ◽  
Stephen Doherty ◽  
María-T. Soto-Sanfiel
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
First Language ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Likert Scales ◽  
Original Language ◽  
Perceived Realism ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
The Impact

This study investigates the impact of same-language subtitles on the immersion into audiovisual narratives as a function of the viewer’s language (native or foreigner). Students from two universities in Australia and one in Spain were assigned randomly to one of two experimental groups, in which they saw a drama with the original English soundtrack either with same-language English subtitles (n=81) or without subtitles (n=92). The sample included an English native control group, and Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Spanish groups with English as a foreign language. Participants used post-hoc Likert scales to self-report their presence, transportation to the narrative world, perceived realism, identification with the characters, and enjoyment. The main results showed that subtitles did not significantly reduce these measures of immersion. However, subtitles produced higher transportation, identification with the characters, and perceived realism scores, where the first language of viewers and their viewing habits accounted for most of this variance. Moreover, presence and enjoyment were unaffected by either condition or language. Finally, the main results also revealed that transportation to the narrative world appears to be the most revealing measure of immersion in that it shows the strongest and most consistent correlations, and is a significant predictor of enjoyment. Se estudia el impacto de los subtítulos en el mismo idioma de la narrativa audiovisual según el idioma del receptor (nativo o extranjero). Estudiantes de dos universidades australianas y una española fueron asignados al azar a uno de dos grupos experimentales en los que se veía un drama con la banda sonora original en inglés con subtítulos en esa misma lengua (n=81) o sin subtítulos (n=92). La muestra incluía un grupo control de hablantes nativos de inglés, además de grupos de hablantes nativos de chino mandarín, coreano y español con inglés como lengua extranjera. Como medidas post-hoc, los participantes reportaron, mediante escalas Likert, su percepción de presencia, transporte, realismo percibido, identificación con los personajes y disfrute. Los resultados muestran que los subtítulos no reducen las medidas de inmersión. Además, que los subtítulos producen mayores puntuaciones de transporte, identificación con los personajes y percepción de realismo, cuya varianza se explica, esencialmente, por la primera lengua de los receptores y sus hábitos de visionado. Asimismo, los resultados señalan que ni a la presencia y ni al disfrute les afectan la condición experimental o el idioma del receptor. Finalmente, muestran que el transporte es la medida más reveladora de la inmersión porque produce las correlaciones más fuertes y consistentes, aparte de ser un predictor significativo del disfrute de los espectadores.

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