Non-background Chinese learners' pronunciation acquisition through language transfer : an action research in a Sydney public school

Abstract

This research focuses on the exploration of a language transfer teaching approach to make Chinese (Mandarin) learnable for young beginning learners. A qualitative action research methodology was chosen as most relevant to improve the teacher researcher's teaching practice in a primary school in Australia over three school terms/ three research Cycles. The aim of this research was to find a suitable language transfer-based teaching approach to make Chinese learnable to non-background Chinese learners. The overarching research question was: How can students' L1 (English) be employed to facilitate the pronunciation acquisition in their L2 (Chinese) learning? Ringbom's (2007) contention that there are three cross-linguistic similarity relations between languages: "similarity relation", "contrast relation", and "zero relation" was implemented to explore the research question. Grounded in the outcomes of Cycle 1 teaching and learning the teacher researcher refined Ringbom's (2007) three categories into two - "Similar Relation" and "Non-relation" and continued to implement this framework in Cycles 2 and 3. Based on the data analysis and informed by a review of the literature, this action research found that Mandarin and English do share various phonetic similarities of vowels and consonants. In addition, identification and application of such phonetic similarities (language transfer) between Mandarin and English helped young beginning learners to engage in Mandarin pronunciation lessons more effectively and confidently. This research also explored the tensions for teaching and learning pronunciation when no similarities could be identified in the Mandarin vocabulary to be taught. Various supplementary teaching approaches were developed and implemented to assist the young learners' Mandarin pronunciation when "Non-relation" between the languages was identified. This thesis has concluded with an in-depth discussion of the findings in relation to the research question and its contributory questions. This has resulted in a list of teaching strategies being offered for other like-minded teacher researchers to trial.

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English