The Trial And Error Experiment Of The Reference Point In Pitch Range-a Case Study Of Indonesian Learner In Chinese Tones Acquisition

Chinese,as a tonal language,its tones are not only important and difficult points for second language learners,but also one of the important aspects of second language acquisition research.This thesis proposes that the research framework of tone acquisition is composed of three contents:the research of tone based on noumenon of language,the research of category based on cognition ability,and the research of background based on social conditions and cultures.The whole process of tone acquisition is affected by these three aspects.On the basis of the viewpoints above,this thesis considers that:First,the tone is part of the phonetic elements in the language system as well one of the units which can be analyzed by language system.Tones,as the elements that exists in Tonal language system,should show a meaningful difference.Through the difference between the characteristics of each tone,the learners can establish the concepts of the entire tone system before their deep learning,and they may use different strategies to achieve different requirements of tones;Tones are categories,which is the result of categorization of human beings in the process of cognition in language system.Second,in terms of cognition,The acquisition of tones is the process of categorization.The establishment of these categories depend on the focus of the pronunciation of pitch range.The reference point of pitch range has two meanings.The first meaning is the cognitive reference point of the single tone category pronunciation,and the second meaning is the deep reference mechanism of the whole tone system.The process of tones acquisition is a work of deviating and adjusting the reference point of pitch range.The learners themselves in their own pitch ranges try to find the best balance between the tone pronunciations and linking relations.Third,about the background of the learners,studies have shown that such as language,social enviroment,cultural and other factors,as well as the external and internal factors of learners,have an impact on the process of tones acquisition.This paper chooses the language background of the native language learners who speek non-tone language as an object,and points out that the characteristics of different types of language will exert influence on the pronunciation of tones.This thesis adopt experimental and empirical methods to research and analyze the studying performance of an Indonesian adult learner who has never studied Chinese befor.In order to prove our viewpoint,we will track and analysis all his performance of pronunciation from the beginning stage that the informant has not realized tone categoriese with unstable tone output to stabilization stage that he establishes the tone categories.