2018 Friday Poster 6407

Friday, November 2, 2018 | Poster Session I, Metcalf Small | 3pm

Lexical tone in L2 Mandarin: The relation between categorical perception and real-time spoken word recognition
W. Ling, T. Grüter

Lexical tone is challenging for L2 learners. Previous work shows tone in L2 is perceived less categorically (Shen&Froud 2016, 2018) and utilized less in word recognition (PelzlEtAl 2015) than in L1. However, little is known about the link between toneme identification and use of tone in real-time L2 word recognition. With the goal of contributing to a better understanding of “the bridge between phonemes and words”

(Wong&Perrachione 2007) in language learning, we present evidence from 30 native (NSs) and 29 L1-English late-onset (≥15 years), intermediate-to-advanced-proficiency L2 speakers of Mandarin who completed a real-time lexical processing (visual-world eye- tracking, Exp1) and a tone identification (Exp2) task. This allows us to examine if and how the use of tonal cues during lexical access relates to the ability to perceive tone categorically.

Exp1: Participants listened to 36 test sentences (randomized with 60 fillers) naming a target object (e.g., qing3xuan3 gou3; ‘please click on dog’) while viewing visual scenes (Fig1) depicting the target, an unrelated distractor, and one of three phonologically related competitors: matching either in full segmental content but not tone (gou1 ‘hook’, SC condition), in rhyme content only (shou3 ‘hand’, RC), or in vowel content only

(dou4 ‘bean’, VC). Mixed-effect logistic regression models of mouseclick accuracy show an interaction between Group and Condition, resulting from L2ers’ significantly lower accuracy in the SC condition only (p<.001). Importantly, 15 L2ers demonstrated above- chance (by binomial distribution, ≥9/12) accuracy in the SC condition. We examined eye- gaze patterns among these 15 high-accuracy L2ers and 30 NSs (Fig2, trials with correct mouseclick only) in a window from 200 to 2100ms (=mean L2 mouseclick RT) after noun onset. Linear mixed-effect modeling of fixations to the competitor (empirical logit, Barr 2008) by Condition and Group show greater competition in the L2 vs. L1 group in all three conditions. Within-group analyses further showed (marginally) greater competition from SC than from VC competitors in the high-accuracy L2 group (b=0.28, t=1.98, p=.06), but not in the NS group (b=0.10, t=0.83, p=.41), suggesting that even when ultimately converging on the correct target, high-accuracy L2ers continuously activate SCs during real-time lexical access.

Exp2: In an identification task consisting of the monosyllable (/pi/) with pitch from 9- step continua between two naturally produced tones for all six possible tone pairs in Mandarin, participants chose which of two alternative tones they heard. Identification slopes of the 15 high-accuracy L2ers were significantly shallower than those among NSs (b=0.41, t=4.29, p<.001) and, critically, correlated with fixations to the competitor in the SC condition in Exp1 (tau=0.42, p=.03, Fig3).

These results suggest that even when the word is ultimately recognized correctly, a less categorical representation of tone relates to less efficient use of tonal information in word recognition, indicated by increased lexical competition in cases where tone is the critical cue, in the L2 group. This research contributes to understanding the link between phonemic and lexical processing, which is a key component in the L2 acquisition of tone.

References

Shen, G., & Froud, K. (2016). Categorical perception of lexical tones by English learners of Mandarin Chinese. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,140, 4396-4403.

Shen, G., & Froud, K. (2018). Electrophysiological correlates of categorical perception of lexical tones by English learners of Mandarin Chinese: an ERP study. BLC.

Pelzl, E., DeKeyser, R., Lau, E. & Phillips, C. (2015). Advanced second language learners’ perception of lexical tone contrasts. Paper presented at SLRF, Atlanta, Georgia.

Wong, P. C., & Perrachione, T. K. (2007). Learning pitch patterns in lexical identification by native English-speaking adults. Applied Psycholinguistics, 28, 565-585.

Barr, D. J. (2008). Analyzing ‘visual world’ eyetracking data using multilevel logistic regression. Journal of Memory and Language, 59, 457-474.