The Influence Of L1Background On Learning Mandarin Tones

Tones form an indispensable part in Chinese syllables: replacing one tone withanother may lead to an entirely different meaning. It is therefore extremely importantfor foreign Mandarin learners to acquire tones. However, acquiring Mandarin tones isa challenge for foreign learners, no matter what their first language is. The firstlanguage (L1) of a learner may have different effects on their acquisition of a secondlanguage (L2). This thesis focuses on the influence of different L1backgrounds onMandarin tone acquisition. In particular, it investigates whether learners of a tonalfirst language would be favoured or disfavoured in their acquisition of Mandarintones.To achieve this goal, this study conducts two experiments: Mandarin TonePerception and Mandarin Tone Production, for which, respectively,16and6overseasstudents were recruited, with both tonal L1and non-tonal L1. In the perceptionexperiment, the participants were asked to identify the stimulus heard. In theproduction experiment, the participants were requested to articulate the syllables, withthe aid of corresponding pinyin and tone.The results of the experiments show that at the initial stage of Mandarin learning,learners with a tonal L1outperform those with a non-tonal L1in both perception andproduction. However, this advantage disappears with the increase of languageproficiency. In the long run, a tonal L1background does not necessarily benefitMandarin tone acquisition.The thesis consists of five parts. An introduction is presented at first, followed bya literature review. The subsequent two chapters describe the two experiments andpresents results and interpretations. The last chapter concludes the thesis byidentifying its limitations and putting forward suggestions for future studies.