Cover not available

Article published In: Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 5:2 (2019) ► pp.195–222

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Korean L2 learners’ perception and production of Vietnamese tones

ORCiD logo with link | University of Social Sciences and Humanities | Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Published online: 17 September 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.17011.dao
Abstract
This study investigated the production and perception of Vietnamese tones by Korean second language (L2) learners [n = 11], comparing their performance in an Imitation task to that in Identification and Read-Aloud tasks. The results showed that the Imitation task was generally easier for Korean speakers than the Identification and Read-Aloud tasks, suggesting that imitation was performed without some of the skills required by the other two tasks. The result on tonal F0 range and speakers’ tonal range showed that the Korean leaners have significantly narrower tonal F0 range than control Vietnamese speakers [n = 11]. The results of error pattern analysis and tonal transcription in this study also suggested the effects of phonetic realizations of lexical tones in Vietnamese that are in interaction with language transfer from Korean phonology.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1L2 production models
    • 1.2L2 perception of tones
    • 1.3L2 imitation
    • 1.4Prosodic aspects in Vietnamese and Korean
    • 1.5Study aims
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Stimuli
    • 2.3Procedures
      • 2.3.1Identification task
      • 2.3.2Imitation
      • 2.3.3Read-Aloud task
    • 2.4Assessing accuracy in the Read-Aloud and Imitation tasks
    • 2.5Analysis
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1L2 learners’ accuracy rates in Identification, Read-Aloud, and Imitation tasks
    • 3.2Tonal error patterns
    • 3.3Transcription of tone contours and voice quality
      • 3.3.1The level tone
      • 3.3.2The rising tone
      • 3.3.3The falling tone
      • 3.3.4The dropping tone
      • 3.3.5The curve tone
      • 3.3.6The broken tone
    • 3.4Tone F0 range
    • 3.5Speakers’ F0 range
  • 4.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (56)
References
Asher, J. J., & García, R. (1969). The optimal age to learn a foreign language. Modern Language Journal, 531, 334–341. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, W., & Trofimovich, P. (2006). Perceptual paths to accurate production of L2 vowels: The role of individual differences. IRAL – International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 441, 231–250.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beckman, M. E., & Pierrehumbert, J. B. (1986). Intonational structure in Japanese and English. Phonology Yearbook, 31, 255–310. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2009). Praat: doing phonetics by computer (Version 4.6.09). Computer program, retrieved on 24 June 2007, from [URL]
Bohn, O. S., & Flege, J. E. (1997). Perception and production of a new vowel category by adult second language learners. In J. Leather & A. James (Eds.), Second language speech: Structure and process (pp. 53–73). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bradlow, A. R., Pisoni, D. B., Akahane-Yamada, R., & Tohkura, Y. I. (1997). Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/ and /l/ :IV. Some effects of perceptual learning on speech production. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1011, 2299–2310. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brunelle, M., & Jannedy, S. (2013). The Cross-dialectal Perception of Vietnamese Tones: Indexicality and Convergence. In D. Hole & E. Löbel (Eds.), Linguistics of Vietnamese, Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brunelle, M. (2009a). Tone perception in Northern and Southern Vietnamese. Journal of Phonetics, 27(1), 79–96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009b). Northern and Southern Vietnamese tone coarticulation: A comparative case study. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, 11, 49–62.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carcagno, S., & Plack, C. J. (2011). Subcortical plasticity following perceptual learning in a pitch discrimination task. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, 121, 89–100. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chandrasekaran, B., Kraus, N., & Wong, P. C. (2012). Human inferior colliculus activity relates to individual differences in spoken language learning. Journal of Neurophysiology, 1071, 1325–1336. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Đào, M.Đ., & Nguyễn, T. A. T. (2017). Vietnamese tones produced by Australian Vietnamese speakers. Heritage Language Journal, 14(3), 224–247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Đoàn, T. T. (1999). Ngữ âm tiếng Việt [Vietnamese phonetics]. Hà Nội: Đại học & Trung học chuyên nghiệp Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eckman, F. R. (1977). Markedness and the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis. Language Learning, 27(2), 315–330. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Emeneau, M. B. (1951). Studies in Vietnamese (Annamese) grammar. Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flege, J. E., & Eefting, W. (1988). Imitation of a VOT continuum by native speakers of English and Spanish: Evidence for phonetic category formation. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 831, 729–740. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fowler, C. A., Brown, J. M., Sabadini, L., & Weihing, J. (2003). Rapid access to speech gestures in perception: Evidence from choice and simple response time tasks. Journal of Memory and Language, 491, 396–413. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gandour, J. (1983). Tone perception in far eastern languages. Journal of Phonetics, 111, 149–175. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hakuta, K., Bialystok, E., & Wiley, E. (2003). Critical evidence: a test of the critical period hypothesis for second-language acquisition. Psychological Science, 141, 31–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halle, P. A., Chang, Y. C., & Best, C. T. (2004). Identification and discrimination of Mandarin Chinese tones by Mandarin Chinese vs. French listeners. Journal of Phonetics, 32(3), 395–421. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hao, Y. C., & de Jong, K. (2016). Imitation of second language sounds in relation to L2 perception and production. Journal of Phonetics, 541, 151–168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyman, L. M., & VanBik, K. (2004). Directional rule application and output problems in Hakha Lai tone. Phonetics and Phonology, Special Issue, Language and Linguistics, 51, 821–861.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: the influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 211, 60–99. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, M. H., & De Haan, M. (2015). Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience: An Introduction. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jun, S. A. (1993). The Phonetics and Phonology of Korean Prosody. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1998). The accentual phrase in the Korean prosodic hierarchy. Phonology, 15(2), 189–226. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Prosody in sentence processing: Korean vs. English. UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics, 1041, 26–45.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirby, J. (2010). Dialect experience in Vietnamese tone perception. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 127(6), 3749–3757. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kiriloff, C. (1969). On the auditory discrimination of tones in Mandarin. Phonetica, 201, 63–67. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, Y., Vakoch, D., & Wurm, L. (1996). Tone perception in Cantonese and Mandarin: A cross-linguistic comparison. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 25(5), 527–544. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lenneberg, E. H., Chomsky, N., & Marx, O. (1967). Biological Foundations of Language. New York: Wiley. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J. M., Roelofs, A., & Meyer, A. S. (1999). A theory of lexical access in speech production, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 221, 1–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Michaud, A. (2004). Final Consonants and Glottalization: New Perspectives from Hanoi Vietnamese. Phonetica, 611,119–146. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Michaud, A., Vũ, N. T., Amelot, A., & Roubleau, B. (2006). Nasal realease, nasal finals and tonal contrasts in Hanoi Vietnamese: an aerodynamic experiment. Mon-Khmer Studies, 361, 121–137.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mitterer, H., & Ernestus, M. (2008). The link between speech perception and production is phonological and abstract: Evidence from the shadowing task. Cognition, 1091, 168–173. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mitterer, H., & Müsseler, J. (2013). Regional accent variation in the shadowing task: Evidence for a loose perception – action coupling in speech. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 751, 557–575. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nguyễn, V. L., & Edmondson, J. A. (1997). Tones and voice quality in modern northern Vietnamese: Instrumental case studies. Mon-Khmer Studies, 281, 1–18.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pham, H. A. (2003). Vietnamese tone: A new analysis. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pierrehumbert, J. B., & Beckman, M. E. (1988). Japanese Tone Structure. Linguistic Inquiry, Monograph 15. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polka, L. (1991). Cross-language speech perception in adults: Phonemic, phonetic, and acoustic contributions. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 89(6), 2961–2977. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1992). Characterizing the influence of native language experience on adult speech perception. Perception & Psychophysics, 52(1), 37–52. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pujol, J., Deus, J., Losilla, J. M., & Capdevila, A. (1999). Cerebral lateralization of language in normal left-handed people studied by functional MRI. Neurology, 521, 1038–1043. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shen, X. S. (1989). Toward a register approach in teaching Mandarin tones. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, 24(3), 27–47.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shockley, K., Sabadini, L., & Fowler, C. A. (2004). Imitation in shadowing words. Perception & Psychophysics, 661, 422–429. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Skoe, E., Chandrasekaran, B., Spitzer, E. R., Wong, P. C., & Kraus, N. (2013). Human brainstem plasticity: the interaction of stimulus probability and auditory learning. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 1091, 82–93. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
So, C. K. (2005). The effect of L1 prosodic backgrounds of Cantonese and Japanese speakers on the perception of Mandarin tones after training. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 117(4), 2427. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Song, J. H., Skoe, E., Wong, P. C., & Kraus, N. (2008). Plasticity in the adult human auditory brainstem following short-term linguistic training. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 201, 1892–1902. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Studebaker, G. A. (1985). A rationalized arcsine transform. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 281, 455–462. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tierney, A. T., Krizman, J., & Kraus, N. (2015). Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1121, 1006–10067. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tu, J., Hsiung, Y., Cha, J., Wu, M., & Sung, Y. (2016). Tone production of Mandarin disyllabic words by Korean learners. Proc. Speech Prosody, 375–379. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tu, J., Hsiung, Y., Wu, M., & Sung, Y. (2014). Error patterns of Mandarin disyllabic tones by Japanese learners. Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association (Interspeech-2014), Singapore, 2014.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vũ, T. P. (1981). The acoustic and perceptual nature of tone in Vietnamese. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Y., Spence, M. M., Jongman, A., & Sereno, J. A. (1999). Training American listeners to perceive Mandarin tones. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1061, 3649–3658. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wayland, R. P., & Guion, S. G. (2004). Training English and Chinese listeners to perceive Thai Tones: A preliminary Report. Language Learning, 54(4), 681–712. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xie, Z., Reetzke, R., & Chandrasekaran, B. (2017). Stability and plasticity in neural encoding of linguistically relevant pitch patterns. Journal of Neurophysiology, 117(3), 1407–1422. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Young-Scholten, M. (1994). On positive evidence and ultimate attainment in L2 phonology. Second language research, 101, 193–214. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Levis, John M.
2024. Key issues in L2 pronunciation research. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 10:3 ► pp. 293 ff. DOI logo
Ko, Sungsil & Jiyoun Choi
2020. Perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones in Korean learners of Mandarin Chinese. Phonetics and Speech Sciences 12:1 ► pp. 11 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue