The role of talker similarity in the perceptual learning of L2 tone categories

Jing Shao, Joanna Chor Yan Mak, Caicai Zhang

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceedingConference article published in proceeding or bookAcademic researchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Different hypotheses were proposed concerning the role of talker variability in lexical learning. It remains unclear whether new phonetic categories are acquired as episodic memory traces with talkers' voice information preserved or as abstract categories. The current study investigated the role of voice similarity in perceptual learning of Cantonese tones. Six high-variability training sessions were given to 12 Mandarin speakers. Voice similarity was controlled in the training and pre-and posttests. Results indicate that the training positively transferred to both similar and dissimilar talkers. However, in the pretest, the performance was not significantly different between similar and dissimilar voices, whereas significant better performance was found in the similar voices in the posttest. These results suggest that learners retained speakers' information in the learning process and made use of such information for future perception. This implies that lexical tones are probably encoded episodically in the mental representation of Mandarin L2 learners.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCogSci 2017 - Proceedings of the 39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
Subtitle of host publicationComputational Foundations of Cognition
PublisherThe Cognitive Science Society
Pages3125-3130
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780991196760
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Event39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Computational Foundations of Cognition, CogSci 2017 - London, United Kingdom
Duration: 26 Jul 201729 Jul 2017

Publication series

NameCogSci 2017 - Proceedings of the 39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Computational Foundations of Cognition

Conference

Conference39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Computational Foundations of Cognition, CogSci 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period26/07/1729/07/17

Keywords

  • Cantonese lexical tones
  • high variability training
  • Mandarin leaners of Cantonese
  • mental representation
  • Talker similarity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

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