Doctoral Dissertation Research: Linguistic Uses of Fundamental Frequency in Mandarin and English: Implications for Second-language Speakers

Cuny Graduate School University Center, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Janet Dean Fodor, Ms. Tanya Viger will collect data for her doctoral dissertation on the prosodic features of English and Mandarin as spoken by second-language learners. The goal of this research is to identify acoustic properties of speech that may contribute to what is perceived as non-native or foreign accent. Previous research on second-language phonological competence has emphasized individual speech sounds, but recent studies have found that the pitch and timing in sentence prosody also contributes to non-native accent. English and Mandarin differ radically in their use of pitch contours. English uses pitch contours to mark phrase boundaries and convey sentence type (e.g., question, statement). Mandarin is a tone language in which pitch contours distinguish one word from another. Comparing a tone language with a non-tone language makes it possible to determine how learners' use of prosody in a second language is affected by the linguistic function of pitch contours in their native language. Controlled sets of English and Mandarin sentences will be read by native speakers of Taiwan Mandarin learning English, and by native speakers of North American English learning Mandarin. The recordings will be acoustically analyzed to determine properties such as the direction, timing and slope of the pitch contours at phrase boundaries. Measurements will then be compared across the utterances produced by native and non-native speakers of each language. This research is significant both for psycholinguistic theory and for language pedagogy. It will contribute new data and theoretical constructs for understanding the prosodic aspects of second-language acquisition, as well as the ways that learning is influenced by native language experience. Language pedagogy is a matter of increasing importance as global interactions call for more communication in non-native languages. Yet, prosodic training is rarely emphasized even though non-native prosody is a major cause of speech being perceived as foreign-accented and difficult to comprehend. The knowledge gained from this research can be applied in the development of prosodic instruction units for use in second-language teaching and language-learning software.