Categorical Perception Of Mandarin Tones 2 And 3 By L2 Learners With Different L1 Backgrounds

Because of its complex tone system,Mandarin has always been considered to be one of the most challenging languages to learn for L2 learners with tonal or non-tonal language backgrounds.For decades,tone error analysis of the second language acquisition of mandarin tones has been the focus of much debate.Some of them attribute the source of error to the learners' native language,others posit the distinction of tone 2 and tone 3 is harder than other tone pairs,causing difficulties for L2 learners.But few studies have been made on the perception of Mandarin Tones 2 and 3 students by L2 learners with different native language backgrounds.This study explores the categorical perception of Mandarin Tones 2 and 3 by Ghanaian and Kazakh students.With comparison to the native speakers,the effects of two different L1 s are analyzed: Kazakh,an Asian non-tonal language and Twi,an African tonal language(Ghanaian students' first language).Two types of continua are constructed with mandarin Chinese syllable /d?/.The starting pitch,the turning point position and the ending pitch of the natural syllable /d?/ are resynthesized by PSOLA method.In Experiment I,the starting pitch changes from 5st to 10 st,the turning point position moves from 50 ms to 350 ms.In Experiment 2,the ending pitch changes from 10 st to 16 st,the turning point position moves from 50 ms to 350 ms.20 Chinese native speakers,15 Ghanaian students and 19 Kazakh students are required to finish the identification and discrimination task for these two sets of tone continua.The following three research questions are discussed:1)Whether Kazakh students,Ghanaian students and native Chinese speakers present a categorical pattern when they perceive Mandarin Tones 2 and 3?2)What are the similarities and differences among the three groups when they perceive Mandarin Tones 2 and 3?3)What are the key acoustic cues for the three groups to perceive Mandarin Tones 2 and 3 respectively?The major findings are as follows:1)In most cases,the perception of Mandarin Tones 2 and 3 by native Chinese speakers shows categorical pattern.Ghanaian students show quasi-categorical pattern when the starting pitch changes from 5st to 6st in experiment I and the ending pitch changes from 14 st to 16 st in experiment 2.For Kazakh students,the perception of Mandarin Tones 2 and 3 only shows categorical pattern when the starting pitch changes from 7st to 8st in experiment I and the ending pitch changes from 14 st to 15 st in experiment 2,but the categorical pattern is not typical.2)There are significant differences in the degree of categorization between three groups when they perceive Mandarin Tones 2 and 3.The degree of categorical perception of Mandarin Tones 2 and 3 by native Chinese speakers is significantly greater than the two L2 groups.The slopes of the identification curves of native speakers are greater than two L2 groups and the widths of the identification curves are also narrower than two L2 groups.In most cases,the slopes of the identification curves of Ghanaian students are greater than Kazakh students,the widths of the identification curves are narrower than Kazakh students.But ANOVA results showed no significant differences between these two L2 groups.3)Three groups show some differences in the three acoustic cues to identify tone 2 and tone 3.All the three groups refer the turning point position as the most important cue in two experiments.Some of Native speakers also use the ending pitch as the compensatory cue in experiment II,yet the starting pitch is seldom used as the compensatory cue in experiment I.Only a few of Ghanaian students use the starting pitch as compensatory clues in experiment I and the ending pitch as compensatory clues in experiment II.Half of Kazakhstan students use the starting pitch and the ending pitch as compensatory cues in experiment I and II respectively.The research results prove the effects of native language backgrounds on the perception of tone 2 and tone 3 by two L2 groups.Thought there are no significant differences between the two L2 groups,Ghanaian students show more categorical characteristic than Kazakh students when perceiving tone 2 and tone 3.They also use different acoustic cues in the perceiving process.The results shed light on mandarin Chinese teaching.Focus should be put on different acoustic cues when teaching Mandarin Chinese tones to L2 learners with different language backgrounds.More researches on L2 learners from different language backgrounds should be made in the future to understand the acquisition of Mandarin Chinese tone completely and thoroughly.