Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin

Previous research findings have established that a number of nonlinguistic factors can influence the strength of perceived foreign accent in second language (L2) speech. However, the majority of past studies have predominantly considered foreign accent of Indo-European languages, notably English. Th...

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Autores principales:	Freeborn Lani, Rogers John
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Sciendo 2019
Materias:	foreign accent second language mandarin chinese comprehensibility Chinese language and literature PL1001-3208
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3c6b2e72f4584852ab753dd9b01bf0d7
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3c6b2e72f4584852ab753dd9b01bf0d72021-12-02T15:25:32ZNonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin1017-127410.2478/scl-2019-0003https://doaj.org/article/3c6b2e72f4584852ab753dd9b01bf0d72019-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.2478/scl-2019-0003https://doaj.org/toc/1017-1274Previous research findings have established that a number of nonlinguistic factors can influence the strength of perceived foreign accent in second language (L2) speech. However, the majority of past studies have predominantly considered foreign accent of Indo-European languages, notably English. Therefore, it remains unknown whether the same factors influence foreign accent in other languages, such as Mandarin. This article reports findings from a study on nonlinguistic factors affecting the degree of foreign accent in Mandarin as an L2. Seventy L2 learners of Mandarin Chinese recorded speech samples and completed language background questionnaires. Speech samples were rated by 15 native Mandarin speakers for the degree of foreign accent on a 9-point Likert scale. Stepwise multiple regression analysis resulted in a 3-predictor model of pronunciation accuracy: self-rating of foreign accent, Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì (HSK) proficiency level, and motivational reasons. Results suggest that (1) foreign accent in L2 Mandarin may not be affected by the same factors as in previous L2 accent studies and (2) the concepts of accentedness and comprehensibility may be more intricately linked in lexical tone languages such as Mandarin, in comparison to nontonal languages. These findings have wider implications for the field of L2 acquisition, which is dominated by studies of L2 English.Freeborn LaniRogers JohnSciendoarticleforeign accentsecond languagemandarin chinesecomprehensibilityChinese language and literaturePL1001-3208ENStudies in Chinese Linguistics, Vol 40, Iss 1, Pp 75-99 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	foreign accent second language mandarin chinese comprehensibility Chinese language and literature PL1001-3208
spellingShingle	foreign accent second language mandarin chinese comprehensibility Chinese language and literature PL1001-3208 Freeborn Lani Rogers John Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin
description	Previous research findings have established that a number of nonlinguistic factors can influence the strength of perceived foreign accent in second language (L2) speech. However, the majority of past studies have predominantly considered foreign accent of Indo-European languages, notably English. Therefore, it remains unknown whether the same factors influence foreign accent in other languages, such as Mandarin. This article reports findings from a study on nonlinguistic factors affecting the degree of foreign accent in Mandarin as an L2. Seventy L2 learners of Mandarin Chinese recorded speech samples and completed language background questionnaires. Speech samples were rated by 15 native Mandarin speakers for the degree of foreign accent on a 9-point Likert scale. Stepwise multiple regression analysis resulted in a 3-predictor model of pronunciation accuracy: self-rating of foreign accent, Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì (HSK) proficiency level, and motivational reasons. Results suggest that (1) foreign accent in L2 Mandarin may not be affected by the same factors as in previous L2 accent studies and (2) the concepts of accentedness and comprehensibility may be more intricately linked in lexical tone languages such as Mandarin, in comparison to nontonal languages. These findings have wider implications for the field of L2 acquisition, which is dominated by studies of L2 English.
format	article
author	Freeborn Lani Rogers John
author_facet	Freeborn Lani Rogers John
author_sort	Freeborn Lani
title	Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin
title_short	Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin
title_full	Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin
title_fullStr	Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin
title_full_unstemmed	Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin
title_sort	nonlinguistic factors that affect the degree of foreign accent in second language mandarin
publisher	Sciendo
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/3c6b2e72f4584852ab753dd9b01bf0d7
work_keys_str_mv	AT freebornlani nonlinguisticfactorsthataffectthedegreeofforeignaccentinsecondlanguagemandarin AT rogersjohn nonlinguisticfactorsthataffectthedegreeofforeignaccentinsecondlanguagemandarin
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Nonlinguistic Factors that Affect the Degree of Foreign Accent in Second Language Mandarin

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