This book presents the effects of perceptual training on the perception of English lexical stress in rising intonation by Mandarin-speaking EFL learners in Taiwan, and shows that these effects can be positive as well as negative. The book is of interest to researchers in lexical stress and intonation, or issues related to acquisition of L2 suprasegmentals and native-language impact on this process, as well as for those designing a training course on lexical stress for EFL learners, particularly those with a tone language background. Learning to perceive non-native sound contrasts can be a formidable task, particularly when learners can't rely on cues from their native-language experience. A case in point is Mandarin-speaking EFL learners' perception of lexical stress. They can accurately identify the stress patterns of target words in sentences that have a falling intonation. However, they experience considerable difficulties when the target words are in questions, where the intonation is rising. Where most training studies use only stimuli produced in falling intonation, we implemented a perceptual training program to examine whether Mandarin-speaking EFL learners could learn to perceive English lexical stress in both falling intonation and rising intonation.

Inhalt

1. Introduction1.1 Overview of this Book1.2 Non-native Speech Perception: Theories and Models1.3 Training for Improving Non-native Speech Perception2. Perceptual Training: A Literature Review2.1 Introduction2.2 Perceptual Training: The Methodology and Design2.3 Applications of Perceptual Training2.2.1 Training Listeners to Perceive Non-native Segmental Contrasts2.2.2 Training Listeners to Perceive Non-native Suprasegmental Contrasts2.4 Factors Influencing Training Effects2.5 Lexical Stress Perception and Stress Deafness2.5.1 Perception of English Lexical Stress2.5.2 Mandarin Listeners' Deafness to English Lexical Stress in RisingIntonation2.6 Perceptual Training of the Current Study: The Goal and Design3. Training to Perceive English Lexical Stress in Rising Intonation: The ImmediateEffects3.1 Introduction3.2 Materials3.3 Acoustic Analysis3.3.1 Falling Intonation3.3.2 Rising Intonation3.4 Training and Testing Procedures3.4.1 Pre-test3.4.2 Perceptual Training3.4.3 Post-test3.5 Participants3.6 Response Accuracy Analysis3.7 Results3.7.1 Trainee Group3.7.2 Control Group3.8 Summary and Discussion3.8.1 Enhanced Performance under the Rising Intonation Context3.8.2 Reduced Performance under the Falling Intonation Context3.9 Conclusion4. Training to Perceive English Lexical Stress in Rising Intonation: Generalizabilityand Retainability4.1 Introduction4.2 Materials4.3 Acoustic Analysis4.3.1 Falling Intonation4.3.2 Rising Intonation4.4 Testing Procedures4.4.1 Generalizability Test4.4.2 Retainability Test4.5 Participants4.6 Response Accuracy Analysis4.7 Results4.8 Summary and Discussion4.8.1 Generalizability of Training Effects4.8.2 Retainability of Training Effects4.9 Conclusion5. General DiscussionReferencesAppendix AAppendix BAppendix CAppendix D