Variability and systematicity in individual learners’ Japanese lexical accent

Taylor, Becky

doi:10.2478/psicl-2011-0012

Cited by 4 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…Lexical accent learning in beginning learners of L2 Japanese may be partially constrained by phonological short-term memory (PSTM) capacity and auditory processing ability, as learners lack substantial experience with the acoustic cues to lexical accent and possess a small lexical store (Martin & Ellis, 2012;Sunderman & Kroll, 2009). Exploring these capacities is vital because they may account for some of the previously observed variation in L2 accent acquisition (e.g., Nishinuma, Arai, & Ayusawa, 1996;Taylor, 2011). Although the involvement of domain-general capacities in L2 suprasegmental acquisition has been examined before (e.g., Bowles et al, 2016;Goss & Tamaoka, 2019;Shport, 2015;Wong & Perrachione, 2007), this relationship needs further exploration in beginning learners of a pitch-accent language, as these capacities may play a greater role in early-stage L2 learning (Hummel, 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

Exploring variation in nonnative Japanese learners’ perception of lexical pitch accent: The roles of processing resources and learning context

Goss

2019

Applied Psycholinguistics

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This article reports findings on the effects of processing resources and learning context on the perceptual learning of lexical pitch accent in beginning nonnative Japanese learners. Native English speakers in at-home and study-abroad contexts were tested twice during a semester of Japanese study on their ability to judge the correctness of and categorize nouns by their pitch pattern. Regression analyses indicated that the ability to store nonnative-like sound sequences in phonological short-term memory (PSTM), as well as auditory processing ability, predicted a significant degree of perceptual gains made over a 12-week interval. However, these predictors were task specific in that PSTM capacity predicted correctness judgment gains, while auditory processing accounted for variation in categorization. Furthermore, despite learners in the at-home context performing slightly better overall, processing resources adhered to the same predictive pattern when context was taken into account. The results suggest that (a) neither increased input during study-abroad nor targeted instruction is sufficient for most learners to acquire lexical accent; (b) processing resources support the acquisition of lexical prosody, but these may depend on how learning is assessed; and (c) PSTM operates across learning contexts, suggesting it to be a domain-general capacity in early-stage nonnative language acquisition.

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confidence: 99%

Exploring variation in nonnative Japanese learners’ perception of lexical pitch accent: The roles of processing resources and learning context

Goss

2019

Applied Psycholinguistics

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“…As discussed, future studies can be categorized in three research areas: First, native English speakers showed an "awfully random" pattern of Japanese pitch accent acquisition regardless of the length of learning and proficiency (Taylor 2011a(Taylor , 2011b(Taylor , 2012, but native Chinese speakers displayed both random trends (Lee et al 2006) and improvement as their learning progressed (Pen 2003). As discussed, future studies can be categorized in three research areas: First, native English speakers showed an "awfully random" pattern of Japanese pitch accent acquisition regardless of the length of learning and proficiency (Taylor 2011a(Taylor , 2011b(Taylor , 2012, but native Chinese speakers displayed both random trends (Lee et al 2006) and improvement as their learning progressed (Pen 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Japanese pitch accent is linguistically said to be an attribute of lexical items (e.g., Sugito 1982Sugito , 1989Taylor 2011aTaylor , 2011b. In contrast, Japanese pitch accents are fixed to each one of the moras in a word.…”

Section: Activation Of Lexical Pitch Accentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Widely-used Japanese textbooks for native Chinese speakers at universities in China (e.g., Hong 2010;Pan 2011;Zhang 2011;Zhao 2012;Zhou and Chen 2009, 2011a, 2011b describe the position of a word's pitch accent when introducing Japanese vocabulary. Widely-used Japanese textbooks for native Chinese speakers at universities in China (e.g., Hong 2010;Pan 2011;Zhang 2011;Zhao 2012;Zhou and Chen 2009, 2011a, 2011b describe the position of a word's pitch accent when introducing Japanese vocabulary.…”

Section: Influence Of Japanese Language Proficiency On Pitch Accent Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If Japanese pitch accent is an attribute of lexical items (e.g., Sugito 1982Sugito , 1989Taylor 2011aTaylor , 2011b, and if accent is activated during word processing (e.g., Cutler and Otake 1999;Otake 2002;Otake and Cutler 1999), accent should be stored as lexical knowledge in the mental lexicon and utilized for word processing. As we discussed above, Chinese speaking learners of Japanese in Lee et al (2006) did not show any improvement in pitch accent production over two years of Japanese study, and yet those in Pan's (2003) study demonstrated a notable difference in perception accuracy between Japanese majors and non-Japanese majors.…”

Section: Influence Of Japanese Language Proficiency On Pitch Accent Amentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

18. Processing of the Japanese language by native Chinese speakers

Tamaoka¹

2015

Handbook of Japanese Psycholinguistics

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Accuracy and Stability in English Speakers’ Production of Japanese Pitch Accent

Muradás-Taylor

2021

Lang Speech

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Standard Japanese uses pitch accent to distinguish words such as initially-accented hashi “chopsticks” and finally-accented hashi “bridge.” Research on the second language acquisition of pitch accent shows considerable variation: in accuracy scores in identification, in different dominant accent types in production, and in the unstable accent types of repeated words. This study investigates pitch accent production in English-speaking learners of Japanese, asking how accuracy and stability vary (a) with amount of Japanese experience and (b) between learners. Two groups of learners (13 less experienced; 8 more experienced) produced 180 words in three contexts (e.g., ame “rain,” ame da “it’s rain,” and ame ga furu “rain falls”). Three Japanese phoneticians identified the accent types of the words that the learners produced. The results showed no difference in accuracy or stability between the two groups and little inter-learner variation in accuracy: all had low accuracy. Although some learners had relatively high stability, they did not maintain accent type contrasts across contexts. These results suggest that first language English speakers do not encode pitch accent in long-term memory, raising questions for future research and language teaching.

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Variability and systematicity in individual learners’ Japanese lexical accent

Cited by 4 publications

References 4 publications

Exploring variation in nonnative Japanese learners’ perception of lexical pitch accent: The roles of processing resources and learning context

Exploring variation in nonnative Japanese learners’ perception of lexical pitch accent: The roles of processing resources and learning context

18. Processing of the Japanese language by native Chinese speakers

Accuracy and Stability in English Speakers’ Production of Japanese Pitch Accent

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