Araştırma Makalesi
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Mandarin Speakers’ Perception of Accented L2-English: The Effects of Accent, Linguistic Experience, and L2 Proficiency

Yıl 2018, Cilt: 1 Sayı: 1, 66 - 77, 01.06.2018

Öz




















In much previous research, language listeners were found to perform differently when listening to a second language (L2) spoken in foreign/native accents. Influential factors have not been ascertained. This study aimed to gain new insights into this issue. 82 Mandarin speakers of different L2 (English) proficiency and different degrees of familiarity with Cantonese, Thai, and Yorkshire accent participated in the study. The stimuli were 40 English sentences with a noun as the last word (stimulus word). The stimulus words were gated with gate 0 revealing no phonological information, gate 1 displaying the first 40 ms of it, gate 2 having an additional 40 ms, etc., accumulating until the end of the word was revealed. The sentences were spoken in the accent of Mandarin, Yorkshire, Cantonese, and Thai. The participants were asked to write down the stimulus words each time after they heard a gated sentence. The results indicated that the participants required significantly less phonological information to correctly recognize the stimuli spoken in their own and Yorkshire accent than in Thai and Cantonese accent. Moreover, the participants’ degree of familiarity with the accents and their L2-English proficiency both had a significant effect on their perceptual performance.

Kaynakça

  • Adank, P., Evans, B., Stuart-Smith, J. and Scotti, S. (2009) Comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar native accents under adverse listening conditions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 35 (2). pp. 520-529.
  • Adank P and McQueen JM (2007) The effect of an unfamiliar regional accent on spoken-word comprehension. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences, pp. 1926- 1928.
  • Best, C. T., & Tyler, M. D. (2007). Non-native and second-language speech perception: Commonalities and complementarities. Language experience in second language speech learning: In honor of James Emil Flege, 1334.
  • Bent, T., & Bradlow, A. R. (2003). The interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 114(3), 1600–1610.
  • Bradlow, A. R., & Bent, T. (2008). Perceptual adaptation to non-native speech. Cognition, 106(2), 707-729.
  • Best, C. T. (1994). The emergence of native-language phonological influences in infants: A perceptual assim- ilation model. In J. C.
  • Best, C. T., & Strange, W. (1992). Effects of phonological and phonetic factors on cross-language perception of approximates. Journal of Phonetics, 20, 305–330.
  • Bradlow, A. R. & Bent, T. (2008). Perceptual adaption to non-native speech. Cognition 106(2): 707-729.
  • Clarke, C. M., & Garrett, M. F. (2004). Rapid adaptation to foreign-accented speech. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 116, 3647–3658.
  • Clopper, C. G., Pisoni, D. B., & De Jong, K. (2005). Acoustic characteristics of the vowel systems of six regional varieties of American English. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 118(3), 1661-1676.
  • Clopper, C. G., & Smiljanic, R. (2015). Regional variation in temporal organization in American English. Journal of Phonetics, 49, 1–15.
  • Iverson, P., Kuhl, P. K., Akahane-Yamada, R., Diesch, E., Tohkura, Y. I., Kettermann, A., & Siebert, C. (2003). A perceptual interference account of acquisition difficulties for non-native phonemes. Cognition, 87(1), 47-57.
  • Flege, J. E. (1988). The production and perception of speech sounds in a foreign language. In H. Winitz (Ed.), Human Communication and Its Disorders. A Review 1988, (pp. 224—401). Norwood, NJ:Ablex.
  • Flege, J. E. (1992a). Speech learning in a second language. In C. A. Ferguson, L. Menn, & C. Stoel-Cannon (Eds.), Phonological development: Models, research, and implications (pp 565–604). Timonium, MD: York Press.
  • Flege, J. E., (1992b). The intelligibility of English vowels spoken by British and Dutch talkers. Intelligibility in speech disorders: Theory, measurement, and management, 1, 157-232.
  • Floccia C, Goslin J, Girard F and Konopczynski G (2006) Does a regional accent perturb speech processing? A lexical decision study in French listeners. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance 32(5): 1276-1293.
  • Gimson, A. C. (1970). An introduction to the pronunciation of English (2nd ed.). London: E. Arnold.
  • Grosjean, F. (1980). Spoken word recognition processes and the gating paradigm. Perception and Psycho- physics, 28, 267–283.
  • Hanulíková, A., & Weber, A. (2012). Sink positive: Linguistic experience with th substitutions influences non-native word recognition. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 74(3), 613-629.
  • Hendriks, B., Meurs, F., & Groot, E. (2015). The effects of degrees of Dutch accentedness in ELF and in French, German and Spanish. International Journal of Applied Linguistics.
  • Iverson, P., Kuhl, P. K., Akahane-Yamada, R., Diesch, E., Tohkura, Y, Kettermann, A., & Siebert, C. (2003). A perceptual interference account of acquisition difficulties for non-native phonemes. Cognition, 87(1), 47–57.
  • Leather, J. (1999). Second-language speech research: An introduction. Language Learning, 49(1), 1–37.
  • Lee, Y. S., Vakoch, D. A., & Wurm, L. H. (1996). Tone perception in Cantonese and Mandarin: A cross-linguistic comparison. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 25(5), 527-542.
  • Li, Y. (2015). English and Thai Speakers’ Perception of Mandarin Tones. English Language Teaching, 9(1), 122.
  • Leikin, M., Ibrahim, R., Eviatar, Z., & Sapir, S. (2009). Listening with an accent: speech perception in a second language by late bilinguals. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 38(5), 447-457.
  • Major, R. C. (1999). Chronological and stylistic aspects of second language acquisition of consonant clusters. Language Learning, 49(1), 123–150.
  • Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (1995). Processing time, accent, and comprehensibility in the perception of native and foreign-accented speech. Language and speech, 38(3), 289-306.
  • Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (1999). Foreign accent, comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speech of second language learners. Language learning, 49(s1), 285-310.
  • Rogers, C. L., Dalby, J., & Nishi, K. (2004). Effects of noise and proficiency level on intelligibility of Chinese-accented English. Language and Speech, 47, 139–154.
  • Schmid, P. M., & Yeni-Komshian, G. H. (1999). The effects of speaker accent and target predictability on perception of mispronunciations. Journal of Speech, Hearing and Language Research, 42, 56–64.
  • Sereno, J., Lammers, L., & Jongman, A. (2016). The relative contribution of segments and intonation to the perception of foreign-accented speech. Applied Psycholinguistics, 37(2), 303–322.
  • Sidaras, S. K., Alexander, J. E., & Nygaard, L. C. (2009). Perceptual learning of systematic variation in Spanish-accented speech. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 125(5), 3306-3316.
  • Van Wijngaarden, S. J. (2001). Intelligibility of native and non-native Dutch speech. Speech Communication, 35, 103–113.
  • Vandergrift, L. (2005). Relationships among motivation orientations, metacognitive awareness and proficiency in L2 listening. Applied linguistics, 26(1), 70-89.
  • Werker, J. F. (1994). Cross-language speech perception: Developmental change does not involve loss. In J. C. Goodman & H. C. Nusbaum (Eds.), The development of speech perception: The transition from speech sounds to spoken words (pp. 93–119). Cambridge MA: MIT Press.

Mandarin Konuşucularının Aksanlı İngilizce Algısı: Aksan, Dilbilimsel Deneyim, ve İngilizce Yeterlilik Düzeyinin Etkileri

Yıl 2018, Cilt: 1 Sayı: 1, 66 - 77, 01.06.2018

Öz

Yapılan birçok araştırma dinleyicilerin yabancı bir dili yerli ya da yabancı bir aksandan dinlerken, dinleme performanslarının farklılık gösterdiğini ortaya koymuştur. Ancak bu durumu etkileyen faktörler tam olarak ortaya konulamamıştır. Bu çalışmanın amacı bu duruma ilişkin yeni anlayışlar edinmektir. İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak konuşan farklı yeterlilik düzeylerine sahip ve Kantonca, Tayca ve Yorkshire aksanlarına farklı düzeylerde yakınlığı olan katılımcılardan oluşan 82 Mandarin konuşucusu bu çalışmada yer almıştır. Uyaranlar, son kelimesi ad (uyaran kelime) olan 40 adet İngilizce cümleden oluşmaktadır. Çalışma, söylenen kelimeleri tanımaya ilişkin süreci irdeleyen gating paradigm yöntemine göre tasarlanmıştır. Cümleler Mandarin, Yorkshire, Kantonca ve Tayca aksanlarında konuşulmuştur. Katılımcılardan bir gated cümle duyduktan sonra her seferinde uyaran kelimeleri yazmaları istenmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, konuşmacıların Kantonca ve Tayca aksanlarında söylenen cümlelere nazaran kendi aksanlarında ve Yorkshire aksanında söylenmiş uyaranları doğru bir şekilde anlayabilmeleri için çok daha az fonolojik bilgiye gereksinim duydukları ortaya çıkmıştır. Ayrıca, katılımcıların bu aksanlara olan yakınlıkları ve yabancı dil olarak İngilizce yeterlilik düzeylerinin, algısal performanslarında anlamlı bir etkiye sahip olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır.

Kaynakça

  • Adank, P., Evans, B., Stuart-Smith, J. and Scotti, S. (2009) Comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar native accents under adverse listening conditions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 35 (2). pp. 520-529.
  • Adank P and McQueen JM (2007) The effect of an unfamiliar regional accent on spoken-word comprehension. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences, pp. 1926- 1928.
  • Best, C. T., & Tyler, M. D. (2007). Non-native and second-language speech perception: Commonalities and complementarities. Language experience in second language speech learning: In honor of James Emil Flege, 1334.
  • Bent, T., & Bradlow, A. R. (2003). The interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 114(3), 1600–1610.
  • Bradlow, A. R., & Bent, T. (2008). Perceptual adaptation to non-native speech. Cognition, 106(2), 707-729.
  • Best, C. T. (1994). The emergence of native-language phonological influences in infants: A perceptual assim- ilation model. In J. C.
  • Best, C. T., & Strange, W. (1992). Effects of phonological and phonetic factors on cross-language perception of approximates. Journal of Phonetics, 20, 305–330.
  • Bradlow, A. R. & Bent, T. (2008). Perceptual adaption to non-native speech. Cognition 106(2): 707-729.
  • Clarke, C. M., & Garrett, M. F. (2004). Rapid adaptation to foreign-accented speech. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 116, 3647–3658.
  • Clopper, C. G., Pisoni, D. B., & De Jong, K. (2005). Acoustic characteristics of the vowel systems of six regional varieties of American English. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 118(3), 1661-1676.
  • Clopper, C. G., & Smiljanic, R. (2015). Regional variation in temporal organization in American English. Journal of Phonetics, 49, 1–15.
  • Iverson, P., Kuhl, P. K., Akahane-Yamada, R., Diesch, E., Tohkura, Y. I., Kettermann, A., & Siebert, C. (2003). A perceptual interference account of acquisition difficulties for non-native phonemes. Cognition, 87(1), 47-57.
  • Flege, J. E. (1988). The production and perception of speech sounds in a foreign language. In H. Winitz (Ed.), Human Communication and Its Disorders. A Review 1988, (pp. 224—401). Norwood, NJ:Ablex.
  • Flege, J. E. (1992a). Speech learning in a second language. In C. A. Ferguson, L. Menn, & C. Stoel-Cannon (Eds.), Phonological development: Models, research, and implications (pp 565–604). Timonium, MD: York Press.
  • Flege, J. E., (1992b). The intelligibility of English vowels spoken by British and Dutch talkers. Intelligibility in speech disorders: Theory, measurement, and management, 1, 157-232.
  • Floccia C, Goslin J, Girard F and Konopczynski G (2006) Does a regional accent perturb speech processing? A lexical decision study in French listeners. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance 32(5): 1276-1293.
  • Gimson, A. C. (1970). An introduction to the pronunciation of English (2nd ed.). London: E. Arnold.
  • Grosjean, F. (1980). Spoken word recognition processes and the gating paradigm. Perception and Psycho- physics, 28, 267–283.
  • Hanulíková, A., & Weber, A. (2012). Sink positive: Linguistic experience with th substitutions influences non-native word recognition. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 74(3), 613-629.
  • Hendriks, B., Meurs, F., & Groot, E. (2015). The effects of degrees of Dutch accentedness in ELF and in French, German and Spanish. International Journal of Applied Linguistics.
  • Iverson, P., Kuhl, P. K., Akahane-Yamada, R., Diesch, E., Tohkura, Y, Kettermann, A., & Siebert, C. (2003). A perceptual interference account of acquisition difficulties for non-native phonemes. Cognition, 87(1), 47–57.
  • Leather, J. (1999). Second-language speech research: An introduction. Language Learning, 49(1), 1–37.
  • Lee, Y. S., Vakoch, D. A., & Wurm, L. H. (1996). Tone perception in Cantonese and Mandarin: A cross-linguistic comparison. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 25(5), 527-542.
  • Li, Y. (2015). English and Thai Speakers’ Perception of Mandarin Tones. English Language Teaching, 9(1), 122.
  • Leikin, M., Ibrahim, R., Eviatar, Z., & Sapir, S. (2009). Listening with an accent: speech perception in a second language by late bilinguals. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 38(5), 447-457.
  • Major, R. C. (1999). Chronological and stylistic aspects of second language acquisition of consonant clusters. Language Learning, 49(1), 123–150.
  • Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (1995). Processing time, accent, and comprehensibility in the perception of native and foreign-accented speech. Language and speech, 38(3), 289-306.
  • Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (1999). Foreign accent, comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speech of second language learners. Language learning, 49(s1), 285-310.
  • Rogers, C. L., Dalby, J., & Nishi, K. (2004). Effects of noise and proficiency level on intelligibility of Chinese-accented English. Language and Speech, 47, 139–154.
  • Schmid, P. M., & Yeni-Komshian, G. H. (1999). The effects of speaker accent and target predictability on perception of mispronunciations. Journal of Speech, Hearing and Language Research, 42, 56–64.
  • Sereno, J., Lammers, L., & Jongman, A. (2016). The relative contribution of segments and intonation to the perception of foreign-accented speech. Applied Psycholinguistics, 37(2), 303–322.
  • Sidaras, S. K., Alexander, J. E., & Nygaard, L. C. (2009). Perceptual learning of systematic variation in Spanish-accented speech. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 125(5), 3306-3316.
  • Van Wijngaarden, S. J. (2001). Intelligibility of native and non-native Dutch speech. Speech Communication, 35, 103–113.
  • Vandergrift, L. (2005). Relationships among motivation orientations, metacognitive awareness and proficiency in L2 listening. Applied linguistics, 26(1), 70-89.
  • Werker, J. F. (1994). Cross-language speech perception: Developmental change does not involve loss. In J. C. Goodman & H. C. Nusbaum (Eds.), The development of speech perception: The transition from speech sounds to spoken words (pp. 93–119). Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Toplam 35 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil İngilizce
Konular Eğitim Üzerine Çalışmalar
Bölüm Makaleler
Yazarlar

Ying Li 0000-0003-1783-9083

Yayımlanma Tarihi 1 Haziran 2018
Kabul Tarihi 5 Mart 2018
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2018 Cilt: 1 Sayı: 1

Kaynak Göster

APA Li, Y. (2018). Mandarin Speakers’ Perception of Accented L2-English: The Effects of Accent, Linguistic Experience, and L2 Proficiency. Language Teaching and Educational Research, 1(1), 66-77.