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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.
List of contents
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
'W¿' (I/ me)
'N¿' (you)
'H¿' (to drink)
'Dà' (big)
'Chá' (tea)
'Suì' (age/ years old)
'Rò' (meat)
'Shí' (10)
'Xué' (to study)
'Ch¿' (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
C
ode 7: Full explanationAcknowledgements
Index
About the author
Robert Neal, Manchester Swire Chinese Language Centre Coordinator, The Manchester Grammar School
Summary
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.
