Interaction in bilingual Cantonese-Putonghua phonological acquisition

This study investigated the existence and mechanism of interaction in bilingual phonological acquisition of two tonal languages (Cantonese and Putonghua). A total of 60 children aged 3;00 to 4;00 were recruited from Hong Kong and Shenzhen, including 20 Cantonese-Putonghua successive bilinguals, 20 Cantonese and 20 Putonghua monolinguals. Cantonese Segmental Phonology Test (So, 1992) and Putonghua Segmental Phonology Test (So & Zhou, 2000) were administered. Occurrences of phonological transfer, phonetic inventories, percentage accuracy of syllable component and accuracy by manner class were measured. The accuracies of shared and unshared sounds were compared in each group to examine if sound categorisation (Flege, 1981) is a systematic pattern of interaction. Results indicated interaction exists between the two phonological systems. In addition, sound categorisation was evident in bilingual phonological acquisition. A clearer picture of bilingual Cantonese-Putonghua phonological acquisition was provided, allowing speech pathologists to make appropriate diagnosis and plan intervention.published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

Effects of hanyu pinyin on pronunciation in learners of Chinese as a foreign language

This paper provides evidence that the hanyu pinyin representation of the phonology of Chinese affects the production of Chinese phonology in instructed learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language. Pinyin generally has a one-to-one correspondence between graphemes and phonemes, but its transcription of some Chinese rimes does not represent the main vowel. As a consequence, learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language have non-target-like phonological representations of Chinese rimes, which in turn lead to non-target-like pronunciations. A hanzi reading-aloud task was used to elicit syllables containing the three rimes /iou/, /uei/ and /uən/ from final-year CFL students. Results show that learners often delete the vowels that are not represented in the pinyin transcription, but they produce the same vowels in the same rimes when the pinyin transcription represents them. It is concluded that the pinyin orthographic input interacts with the phonological input in shaping the phonological representations and pronunciation of Chinese syllables in intermediate as well as beginner CFL learners. Language teachers should therefore be aware of the effects of the pinyin orthography

Bilingual (Cantonese and Putonghua) phonological development: Dominance Perspective

"A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, December 31, 2004."Also available in print.Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2004.published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

Orthographic input and phonological representations in learners of Chinese as a foreign language.

This paper provides evidence that the second language orthographic input affects the mental representations of L2 phonology in instructed beginner L2 learners. Previous research has shown that orthographic representations affect monolinguals' performance in phonological awareness tasks; in instructed L2 learners such representations could also affect pronunciation. This study looked at the phonological representations of Chinese rimes in beginner learners of Chinese as a foreign language, using a phoneme counting task and a phoneme segmentation task. Results show that learners do not count or segment the main vowel in those syllables where it is not represented in the pinyin (romanisation) orthographic representations. It appears that the pinyin orthographic input is reinterpreted according to L1 phonology-orthography correspondences, and interacts with the phonological input in shaping the phonological representations of Chinese syllables in beginner learners. This explains previous findings that learners of Chinese do not pronounce the main vowel in these syllables

Can non-interactive language input benefit young second-language learners?

To fully acquire a language, especially its phonology, children need linguistic input from native speakers early on. When interaction with native speakers is not always possible – e.g. for children learning a second language that is not the societal language – audios are commonly used as an affordable substitute. But does such non-interactive input work? Two experiments evaluated the usefulness of audio storybooks in acquiring a more native-like second-language accent. Young children, first- and second-graders in Hong Kong whose native language was Cantonese Chinese, were given take-home listening assignments in a second language, either English or Putonghua Chinese. Accent ratings of the children's story reading revealed measurable benefits of non-interactive input from native speakers. The benefits were far more robust for Putonghua than English. Implications for second-language accent acquisition are discussed.postprin

Songs as Ambient Language Input in Phonology Acquisition

postprin

A preliminary report on the English phonology of typically developing English-Mandarin bilingual preschool Singaporean children

Background: There are no published data on typical phonological development for Singaporean children. There is therefore the risk that children's speech in Singapore may be misdiagnosed or that clinicians may set goals erroneously. Aims This paper reports a preliminary study on the English phonology of typically developing 4;0–4;5-year-old Chinese Singaporean children who speak English and Mandarin. Method & Procedures Seventy children were recruited throughout Singapore, and speech samples were collected in English using the Phonology Assessment of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP). The participants were divided equally into two groups: English-dominant and Mandarin-dominant. Their speech samples were compared with British English targets (BT) and Singapore English targets (ST) in terms of phonological accuracy and types of phonological processes used. Outcomes & Results The results showed that Singaporean children's phonological accuracy scores increased significantly when scored against ST instead of BT. When scored against ST, English-dominant children were found to perform similarly to their DEAP counterparts. However, Mandarin-dominant children had significantly less accurate consonant production in English and exhibited more interference effects from Mandarin phonology than English-dominant children. Conclusions & Implications In this preliminary study, the results highlight the importance of speech and language therapists using local dialect pronunciations to be the target of speech assessments so as to provide appropriate assessment and intervention. It is also essential to account for the language background and language dominance of the children. More local normative data are needed for the typical acquisition of Singapore English in children, especially for children whose dominant language is not English

The acquisition of phonology and the classification of speech disorders in German-speaking children

PhD ThesisPhonological acquisition has been a major research topic for the past three decades. Several different theoretical concepts, accounting for the course of phonological acquisition, have emerged. While all these theories agree the need to explain language-specific differences during the course of development, they all also strongly argue for a universal pattern. This thesis aims to provide evidence for phonological theory in a cross-linguistic context by examining monolingual children acquiring German as their native language. A cross-sectional study of 177 normally developing children aged 1;6 to 5; 11 was found to generally support the concept of universality but also showed significant acquisition differences especially in comparison with English, a closely related language. It will be argued that to date only the concept of phonological saliency (So & Dodd, 1994; Zua Hua & Dodd, 2000) is able to fully explain language-specific findings. However, evidence for phonological theory cannot only be validated by using data from developmental cross-linguistic studies but also from data describing phonologically disordered children. The nature of the errors made and also the children's developmental history might provide information concerning the prerequisites for normal speech development and the cognitive processes involved in speech perception and production. ... This thesis will argue that developmental speech disorders of unknown origin follow a language-independent course that is constrained by a universal pattern. On the basis of normative data for any language investigated, it should be possible to detect universal subgroups of speech disorders across languages. The clinical implication of this conclusion is that therapy techniques can be applied cross-linguistically.Economic and Social Research Council

Language-specificity in auditory perception of Chinese tones

PL1213, LoC Subject Headings: Auditory perception, Chinese language--Tone, Chinese language--Phonolog