Second Language Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese Tones: Beyond First-Language Transfer

· BRILL
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162
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About this ebook

Tones are the most challenging aspect of learning Chinese pronunciation for adult learners and traditional research mostly attributes tonal errors to interference from learners’ native languages. In Second Language Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese Tones, Hang Zhang offers a series of cross-linguistic studies to argue that there are factors influencing tone acquisition that extend beyond the transfer of structures from learners’ first languages, and beyond characteristics extracted from Chinese. These factors include universal phonetic and phonological constraints as well as pedagogical issues. By examining non-native Chinese tone productions made by speakers of non-tonal languages (English, Japanese, and Korean), this book brings together theory and practice and uses the theoretical insights to provide concrete suggestions for teachers and learners of Chinese.
Tones are the most challenging aspect of learning Chinese pronunciation for adult learners and traditional research mostly attributes tonal errors to interference from learners’ native languages. In Second Language Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese Tones, Hang Zhang offers a series of cross-linguis...

About the author

Hang Zhang, Ph.D. (2013), is Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Linguistics at George Washington University. She has published widely in academic journals including Second Language Research, Chinese as a Second Language, and International Journal of Applied Linguistics.
Hang Zhang, Ph.D. (2013), is Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Linguistics at George Washington University. She has published widely in academic journals including Second Language Research, Chinese as a Second Language, and International Journal of Applied Linguistics.

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