The acquisition of English tones by Mandarin EFL learners: A preliminary study
نویسندگان
چکیده
This paper reports a pretest-posttest experimental study of the acquisition of English tones by Mandarin EFL learners in a Chinese university. The target tones are high fall, high rise, fall-rise and complex level tones embedded in non-English words, one/two-syllable English words and short English sentences. The subjects are 31 Mandarin EFL learners majoring in English, who have learnt English for over 10 years. The pretest data reveal that the subjects’ average acquisition rate (AAR) of English tones is quite moderate (AAR=59%), indicating English tones are considerably difficult for Mandarin EFL learners to acquire. After a 10-week implicit instruction in English tones, the subjects’ AAR of target tones has been significantly improved by 25%, demonstrating the strong support for the teachability of English tones to Mandarin EFL learners. These findings shed light on the learning and teaching of English tones and English intonation in mainland China.
منابع مشابه
L1 Transfer in L2 Acquisition of the There-Insertion Construction by Mandarin EFL Learners
This study examined the role of the native language (L1) transfer in a non-native language (L2) acquisition of the there-insertion construction at the syntax-semantics interface. Specifically, the study investigated if Mandarin EFL learners would make overgeneralization errors in the situation where an L1 argument structure constitutes a superset of its L2 counterpart. Verbs of existence and ap...
متن کاملJoint Effect of Dialect and Mandarin on English Vowel Production: A Case Study in Changsha EFL Learners
Phonetic acquisition of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for learners in dialectal areas has been increasingly regarded as an important research area in second language acquisition. However, most existing research has been focused on finding out the transfer effect of dialect on English production from a second language acquisition point of view, but ignores the impact of Mandarin. The prese...
متن کاملThe Application of the Speech Learning Model to the L2 Acquisition of Mandarin Tones
One major hypothesis of the Speech Learning Model (SLM) is that if the sounds in the second language (L2) are dissimilar to the learners’ first language (L1), learners are more likely to form new phonetic categories for these sounds after receiving sufficient L2 input and achieve native-like proficiency. As for the L2 sounds that are similar to the L1, learners often equate them with L1 categor...
متن کاملLocative Constructions in English Interlanguage: A Study of the Acquisition of Argument Realization in English by Iranian EFL Learners
Locative constructions, as an instance of double object constructions with various cognitive-linguistic concepts, have been successful in attracting the linguists. This paper tried to evaluate the acquisition of English locative constructions by Persian native speakers in the absence of negative evidence, focusing on the influence of L1 and participants’ proficiency level in the course of acqui...
متن کاملAcquisition of English anaphora by Iranian EFL learners
The present study examined the acquisition of anaphora in English by Iranian EFL learners as well as Persian speaking children. To do so, the study was conducted in three phases. In the first phase, 40 intermediate female and male EFL learners were selected from Puyan Institute in Takestan, Iran. Then, an off-line based Grammatical Judgment Task was administered. In the second phase, 40 female ...
متن کامل