An Experimental Study Of Standard Chinese Affricate/fricative Perception And Production By Thai Learners

This study examined the perception and production of standard Chinese affricate/fricative by Thai learners. The study can be summarized as following four aspects: The first aspect of the study is concerned with the perceptual assimilation of standard Chinese affricate/fricative by Thai learners. The second aspect of the study deals with the perceived phonetic similarity between standard Chinese and Thai affricate/fricative. The third aspect is involved with the discrimination of standard Chinese affricate/fricative by Thai learners. The fourth aspect is concerning the production of standard Chinese affricate/fricative by Thai learners. In accordance with the theoretical exploration several conclusions are made as follows: (1) The perceptual assimilation of standard Chinese affricate/fricative by Thai learners is based on the manner of articulation (aspiration or frication). (2) The perceptual assimilation of standard Chinese affricate/fricative by Thai learners is affected by the phonetic context (vowel). (3) The perceived phonetic similarity between standard Chinese and Thai affricate/fricative is affected by the articulatory place and vowel. (4)It is the most difficult for Thai learners to discriminate the standard Chinese aspirated affricate-fricative contrast, and it is also difficult for them to discriminate different articulatory places. The discrimination is also affected by the phonetic context(vowel). (5) Thai learners' production of alveolar affricate is better than prepalatal affricate.