Accent variability in Mandarin lexical tones and its effects on tone-word learning and tone perception by English learners

Abstract

Indexical features in natural speech such as talker and/or accent variation can impede native language (L1) speech perception, but have also been found to facilitate second language (L2) speech learning. Accent variation in consonants and vowels, and its effects on perception have been investigated intensively (Faytak et al., 2020; van Wijngaarden, 2001; Weng et al., 2023 among others), but it remains understudied about accent variation in lexical tones, which are distinctions in fundamental frequency (f0) height and/or contour. As such information is crucial to more fully understanding of the perceptual attunement account (Best, 2015; Best et al., 2009), this thesis investigated accent variation in lexical tones and its effects on minimaltone-contrast word learning and tone perception by native English listeners in four experiments. Lexical tones are used in tone languages, which account for more than 70% of the languages in the world (Yip, 2002). Spoken by 1.3 billion people (around 16% of the world’s population), Mandarin Chinese is the most widely used tone language in the world. There are many varieties (dialects) differing in tone inventories in Mandarin Chinese, for example, Beijing dialect has four tones (Chao, 1948, 1968), i.e., level contour, rising, dipping and falling, whereas Yantai (Bao, 1999), Shanghai (Xu & Tang, 1988) and Guangzhou (Barry & Blamey, 2004) dialects have a three-, five-, and six-tone inventory, respectively. These dialects are considered as different languages (Li, 2006; Mair, 1991) because they differ from each other lexically, grammatically, and phonologically. Tone similarities and discrepancies between Chinese dialects and Mandarin provide a range of opportunities to observe the effects of accent variation in f0 realisation. Therefore, Mandarin Chinese was selected as the target tone language. Findings in this thesis extend L2 speech learning models beyond consonants and vowels to tones, providing fuller understanding of speech perception, production and learning in native listeners and L2 non-tone language learners of Mandarin. The perceptual attunement account (Best, 2015; Best et al., 2009) is thus enriched with perceptual data about lexical tones.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Catherine Best (Supervisor), Michael Tyler (Supervisor) & Denis Burnham (Supervisor)