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Effects of native language experience on Mandarin lexical tone processing in proficient second language learners
1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, and Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
Psychophysiology
|July 30, 2019
Summary
First language (L1) experience with tonal languages significantly impacts how second language (L2) learners process acoustic and phonological tone information. This influences automatic processing of lexical tones in languages like Mandarin.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Second Language Acquisition
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Learning lexical tones is crucial for tonal language acquisition.
- L2 tone learning research lacks clarity on how L1 (tonal vs. nontonal) affects processing of acoustic vs. phonological tone information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how L2 learners with tonal vs. nontonal L1 process acoustic and phonological information in Mandarin lexical tones.
- To examine behavioral and automatic processing differences in Mandarin tone perception.
Main Methods:
- Behavioral experiment: Mandarin tonal continuum identification task.
- Event-related potential (ERP) experiment: Mismatch negativity (MMN) to assess automatic processing.
Main Results:
- Both L2 groups identified Mandarin tones similarly to native speakers behaviorally.
- L2 learners with nontonal L1 showed longer reaction times than native speakers and L2 learners with tonal L1.
- MMN data revealed distinct roles of acoustic and phonological information processing based on L1.
Conclusions:
- L1 experience with tonal languages modulates the processing of acoustic and phonological information in L2 lexical tones.
- Findings inform models of L2 speech learning, particularly for tonal languages.
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