| Although research into the second-language proficiency of late (adult) L2 learners has attempted to define areas where deficiencies appear persistent, examining the area of intonation is relatively new.; The major goal of this study was to examine factors related to perceiving the meaning of English language intonation. Forty-seven students from three different educational institutions completed measures of intonation perception. Significant differences in the ability to perceive the meaning of English intonation existed between native speakers of English and foreign speakers of English, and between beginners and advanced level foreign speakers.; Two variables which appeared to have no relationship to the scores achieved on the tests were the length of time a subject spent studying English in an academic setting and the length of time a subject spent using English in a social setting. Overall, the variables which related to higher scores were: (1) having a higher level of English proficiency, (2) beginning to learn English at an earlier age, (3) speaking a greater number of languages, and (4) being a native speaker of English. Specifically, foreign females outperformed foreign males and Arabic speakers performed worse than other language groups when perceiving filtered-speech Question intonation. Males outperformed females when intonation was connected to segmental information and both the foreign-and native-speaker populations were combined.; An Error analysis revealed that native speakers, unlike the foreign-speaker population, confused Command and Statement filtered-speech intonation.; The results of the study are discussed in the framework of an information-processing model. Advantages of this approach related to late L2 learners' intonation perception problems are discussed with particular reference to the theories of past studies.; The implications of this study are that second languages need to be studied when learners are younger; educational systems need to include second languages in lower grade curricula. Further research to investigate the "ceiling effect" found in this study is very important. Also, experiments constructed to determine the relationship between language learning and information-processing theory are needed. |
