BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:5593-3af99443d3d9f1382f8dadd85b727f2b@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260308T172355Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200625T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200625T103000 SUMMARY:Eric Pelzl (Penn State) - What Is and Isn’t Hard About Learning Lexical Tones: Research with Advanced Second Language Learners of Mandarin Chine se DESCRIPTION:\nAnyone with experience learning a new language likely know s something about the challenge of adapting to unfamiliar sounds. Tone l anguages like Mandarin Chinese present an interesting instance of this c hallenge. In Mandarin\, pitch (F0) patterns on syllables are an integral part of words. For example\, the syllable ma with a high-level tone is &lsquo\;mom&rsquo\;\, with a rising tone is &lsquo\;hemp&rsquo\;\, with a low tone is &lsquo\;horse&rsquo\;\, and with a falling tone is &lsquo\ ;scold&rsquo\;. For learners from non-tonal language backgrounds\, tones present several challenges: learners of course need to (1) hear the dif ferences between tone categories (high\, rising\, low\, falling)\, but t hey also need to treat these new categories as essential for word identi ty by (2) encoding them in memory\, and (3) using them in real-time word recognition. Cute examples like ma might make it seem as if the integra l nature of tones will be obvious to learners\, but in practice syllable s with a neat set of four-way tone contrasts are rare. For word recognit ion in natural speech\, most tones on most words are neither necessary ( due to context) nor sufficient (due to homophones).\n\nWith these though ts in mind\, I will present a series of behavioral and ERP studies exami ning the tone abilities of advanced (i.e.\, successful) L2 learners of M andarin. How well do these successful L2 learners master tones and what difficulties\, if any\, do they encounter? We will see that advanced lea rners perform with virtually the same mastery as native speakers on chal lenging tone identification tasks\, but that the introduction of minimal context (a second syllable) disproportionately affects learners. When i t comes to (tone) word recognition\, the same learners who excel at tone identification display wide variability. While some individuals excel\, learners as a group are often insensitive to tone cues&mdash\;even when they know the appropriate tones for the tested words. At the same time\ , learners often lack explicit tone knowledge for frequent words\, sugge sting they are not able to efficiently encode lexical tone representatio ns in long-term memory. Nevertheless\, as noted\, all the learners inclu ded in this research are rightly described as successful. Considering th is\, I will finish by considering whether accurate L2 tone perception ev en matters at all.\n\nFor more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/ eric_pelzl_penn_state_-_what_is_and_isnt_hard_about_learning_lexical_ton es_research_with_advanced_second_language_learners_of_mandarin_chinese/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Anyone with exp erience learning a new language likely knows something about the challen ge of adapting to unfamiliar sounds. Tone languages like Mandarin Chines e present an interesting instance of this challenge. In Mandarin, pitch (F0) patterns on syllables are an integral part of words. For example, t he syllable ma with a high-level tone is ‘mom’, with a risin g tone is ‘hemp’, with a low tone is ‘horse’, an d with a falling tone is ‘scold’. For learners from non-tona l language backgrounds, tones present several challenges: learners of co urse need to (1) hear the differences between tone categories (high, ris ing, low, falling), but they also need to treat these new categories as essential for word identity by (2) encoding them in memory, and (3) usin g them in real-time word recognition. Cute examples like ma might make i t seem as if the integral nature of tones will be obvious to learners, b ut in practice syllables with a neat set of four-way tone contrasts are rare. For word recognition in natural speech, most tones on most words a re neither necessary (due to context) nor sufficient (due to homophones) .

With these thoughts in mind, I will present a series of behavior al and ERP studies examining the tone abilities of advanced (i.e., succe ssful) L2 learners of Mandarin. How well do these successful L2 learners master tones and what difficulties, if any, do they encounter? We will see that advanced learners perform with virtually the same mastery as na tive speakers on challenging tone identification tasks, but that the int roduction of minimal context (a second syllable) disproportionately affe cts learners. When it comes to (tone) word recognition, the same learner s who excel at tone identification display wide variability. While some individuals excel, learners as a group are often insensitive to tone cue s—even when they know the appropriate tones for the tested words. At the same time, learners often lack explicit tone knowledge for freque nt words, suggesting they are not able to efficiently encode lexical ton e representations in long-term memory. Nevertheless, as noted, all the l earners included in this research are rightly described as successful. C onsidering this, I will finish by considering whether accurate L2 tone p erception even matters at all.

For more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/eric_pelzl_penn _state_-_what_is_and_isnt_hard_about_learning_lexical_tones_research_wit h_advanced_second_language_learners_of_mandarin_chinese/

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