Phonetics and phonology in third language acquisition: Discrimination of consonants in Chongqing Dialect, Standard Mandarin, and English

第三语言习得中的语音与音韵：重庆话、标准普通话、英语的辅音辨析

• 批准号: 2866221
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lancaster University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2866221
• 关键词: Phonetics; phonology; third; language; acquisition

It is estimated that over half the world's population speaks more than one language regularly, withapproximately 13% (~1 billion people) speaking three or more languages (Grosjean, 2010). Linguisticanalyses of multilingualism have, so far, largely focused on western, educated, industrial, rich anddemocratic (WEIRD) countries, and have primarily investigated Indo-European languages (Liu & Lin,2021; Rocha-Hidalgo & Barr, 2022). Due to this bias in the existing research, it is essential to expandknowledge to different multilingual populations to gain a better understanding about the full diversity ofhuman behaviour. Here, I consider the context of third language acquisition in Chongqing, south-westChina.Chongqing is a large city of more than thirty-two million people in mainland China (ChongqingPopulation Bureau, 2021). Most Chongqing people speak Chongqing Dialect as their first language (L1)and Standard Mandarin as their second language (L2). They usually begin to learn English systematicallyas their third language (L3) in secondary school. It is extremely common in China for people to use alocal language (referred to as a 'dialect'), Standard Mandarin, and then learn English as an L3. It is crucialto understand the influences on the acquisition of English by Chinese dialect speakers. For example, in2020/21 there were 143,820 Chinese students in the UK (Universities UK, 2022), many of whom learntEnglish as their L3.It is now accepted knowledge that proficient bilinguals develop two separate, but interacting, soundsystems. However, much less is known about the acquisition of L3 sounds. L3 speech production andperception broadly differ from L2 because of the complicated sources resulting from contact withmultiple languages. Previous phonological studies suggest that L2 transfer is mainly restricted to thevery beginning stage of L3 learning (Gut, 2010; Wrembel et al., 2019). However, previous work isconcentrated on European languages and has not considered dialects of Mandarin Chinese. Here, we focus on L1 speakers of the Chongqing dialect, where there is no contrast between [n] and [l].A lack of difference between /n/ and /l/ is a well-known non-standard feature of the SouthwesternMandarin, apparently transferred from speakers' L1 (Zhang & Levis, 2021). My project will ascertain theextent to which confusion between /l/ and /n/ also transfers to L3 English phonetics.Project OverviewMy PhD project will investigate how the [l] and [n] merger in Chongqing Dialect (L1) will influenceStandard Mandarin (L2) and English (L3) sound systems. Secondly, it will discuss the extent to whichsocial and linguistic factors (e.g. L2 status, L3 experience, the level of proficiency) and perceptionabilities in discriminating these two consonants influences production of these consonants in StandardMandarin and English. Thirdly, it aims to contribute to theories of language interaction effects in L3acquisition. This study builds on my MA research, where I will investigate the extent to which L1Chongqing dialect speakers can perceive /l/ and /n/ in L2 Standard Mandarin and L3 English.

据估计，世界上一半以上的人口经常使用一种以上语言，其中约 13%（约 10 亿人）使用三种或更多语言（Grosjean，2010）。迄今为止，对多语言现象的语言学分析主要集中在西方、受过良好教育的工业化、富裕和民主（WEIRD）国家，并主要研究印欧语言（Liu & Lin，2021；Rocha-Hidalgo & Barr，2022）。由于现有研究存在这种偏见，有必要将知识扩展到不同的多语言人群，以更好地了解人类行为的全部多样性。在这里，我考虑了中国西南地区重庆的第三语言习得背景。重庆是中国大陆一座拥有超过 3200 万人口的大城市（重庆市人口局，2021 年）。大多数重庆人以重庆方言为第一语言（L1），以标准普通话为第二语言（L2）。他们通常在中学开始系统地学习英语作为他们的第三语言（L3）。在中国，人们使用当地语言（称为“方言”）、标准普通话，然后学习英语作为 L3 是非常普遍的。了解中国方言对英语习得的影响至关重要。例如，2020/21 年有 143,820 名中国学生在英国（英国大学，2022），其中许多人学习英语作为他们的第三语言。现在公认的是，熟练的双语者会发展两个独立但相互作用的声音系统。然而，人们对 L3 声音的获取知之甚少。由于接触多种语言而产生的复杂来源，L3 语音的产生和感知与 L2 有很大不同。先前的语音学研究表明，二语迁移主要局限于三语学习的最初阶段（Gut，2010；Wrembel 等，2019）。然而，之前的工作主要集中在欧洲语言，没有考虑普通话的方言。这里，我们关注的是重庆方言的母语使用者，其中 [n] 和 [l] 之间没有对比。/n/ 和 /l/ 之间缺乏区别是西南普通话的一个众所周知的非标准特征，显然是从扬声器的 L1 转移的（Zhang & Levis，2021）。我的项目将确定 /l/ 和 /n/ 之间的混淆在多大程度上也会转移到 L3 英语语音学。项目概述我的博士项目将研究重庆方言 (L1) 中的 [l] 和 [n] 合并将如何影响标准普通话 (L2) ）和英语（L3）声音系统。其次，将讨论社会和语言因素（例如二语地位、三语经验、熟练程度）和区分这两个辅音的感知能力在多大程度上影响标准普通话和英语中这些辅音的产生。第三，它旨在为三语习得中的语言互动效应理论做出贡献。这项研究建立在我的硕士学位研究的基础上，我将调查母语为重庆方言的人在多大程度上能够感知 L2 标准普通话和 L3 英语中的 /l/ 和 /n/。