Intelligibility, Tones and Young Beginner Learners of Mandarin Chinese

Two decades ago, Mandarin Chinese seemed set to become a mainstream school subject in Anglophone settings. Yet current learning outcomes are generally disappointing. Is Chinese too difficult for learners at this level? Should it be left to the posh kids with pushy parents? Set within the context of teaching and learning Chinese at an inner-city secondary school in the North of England, and adopting a case study research design, this book aims to develop research-informed insights into the nature of the pronunciation challenges facing beginner learners of Chinese. While existing research has shown that producing native-like tones is difficult for Anglophone learners, the question of how important tones are for intelligibility has been largely ignored. Do heavily accented tones actually matter? Which specific areas of the learners' speech signal mislead their listeners? How aware are learners of their own pronunciation errors? Teachers of Chinese may not be able to solve entrenched geopolitical tensions, but we can lay the foundations for a stronger engagement with China through excellent teaching. However, before authoritative pedagogical interventions can be made, far more understanding is required of not only how adolescent beginners learn Chinese in school settings, but also what can be realistically expected of them.

Robert Neal, Manchester Swire Chinese Language Centre Coordinator, The Manchester Grammar School

Table of Contents List of figures List of tables 1 Introduction Overview of the book 2 From 'nativeness' to intelligibility Intelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness Mandarin Chinese as a lingua franca Second language acquisition perspectives on L2 pronunciation Intelligibility- oriented research CSL pronunciation research The tonal system of Mandarin Chinese Why are tones difficult for L1 English learners? CSL tonal perception and training studies CSL intelligibility studies Presentation of research questions 3 Challenges of 'real world' pronunciation research Teachers as second language acquisition researchers Epistemological assumptions Conceptual frameworks Case study research Background contextualisation Sampling strategies Ethical considerations Data collection instruments Speaking tasks Dictation exercises Accentedness and comprehensibility ratings Semi- structured interviews with raters Stimulated recall interviews Procedure Data analysis Identification and description of intelligibility breakdowns Raters' explanations of their ratings and transcriptions Learners' explanations of any perceived pronunciation errors Conclusion 4 Tones and intelligibility The ten monosyllabic words featured in this chapter Overall intelligibility levels Individual intelligibility levels Interrater reliability Categorising intelligibility breakdowns 'Wo' (I/ me) 'Ni' (you) 'He' (to drink) 'Dà' (big) 'Chá' (tea) 'Suì' (age/ years old) 'Rò' (meat) 'Shí' (10) 'Xué' (to study) 'Chi' (to eat) Conclusion 5 Accentedness and comprehensibility Coding frameworks Learner 1 Learner 2 Learner 3 Learner 4 Learner 5 Learner 6 Learner 7 Learner 8 Learner 9 Learner 10 Conclusion 6 Awareness Learners' awareness of their own pronunciation errors during speech production Learners' implicit awareness of their own pronunciation errors after speech production Learners' explicit awareness of their own pronunciation errors after speech production Conclusion 7 Evidence- informed perspectives Focus on global not local intelligibility Chunking may increase intelligibility levels Intelligibility is a two- way street Assess each learner individually A narrow focus on tones misses the point 'Perfect' accents and tones do not have to be put on a pedestal Raise learners' awareness levels of their own pronunciation errors Learning Chinese might not be so 'different' after all Explicit and implicit knowledge in instructed second language acquisition Conclusion 8 Conclusion What did I find out? So what? Next steps Teachers as researchers? Implications for school leaders and policymakers A final thought References Appendix A: Speaking tasks used to elicit L2 Chinese speech samples Task 1 Read aloud the following 10 words Task 2 Read aloud the following 10 sentences Task 3 Role- play activity Appendix B: Classification of pronunciation errors at the monosyllabic level Appendix C: Coding framework used to analyse the perceived causes of accentedness Appendix D: Coding framework to analyse the perceived causes of lower levels of comprehensibility Appendix E: Coding framework used to analyse learners' responses to their own intelligibility breakdowns Code 1: No recognition of breakdown(s) Code 2: No explanation of breakdown(s) Code 3: Inaccurate explanation Code 4: Unsuccessful self- repair Code 5: Successful self- repair Code 6: Partial explanation Code 7: Full explanation Acknowledgements Index