Cover not available

Article published In: Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 2:2 (2016) ► pp.253–275

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

Think, sink, and beyond

Phonetic variants and factors contributing to English th pronunciation among Chinese speakers

 | University of Texas San Antonio
 | Research and Development Division, Educational Testing Service
Published online: 23 August 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.2.2.06hua
References (56)
Abrahamsson, N., & Hyltenstam, K. (2008). The robustness of aptitude effects in near-native second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30(4), 481–509. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, W. (2010). Effects of age and experience on the production of English word-final stops by Korean speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(3), 263–278. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baugh, J. (2000). Racial identification by speech. American Speech, 75(4), 362–364. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Birdsong, D., & Molis, M. (2001). On the Evidence for Maturational Constraints in Second Language Acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language, 441, 235–249. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bongaerts, T., Van Summeren, C., Planken, B., & Schils, E. (1997). Age and ultimate attainment in the pronunciation of a foreign language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19(4), 447–465. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, A. (1991). Functional load and the teaching of pronunciation. In A. Brown (Ed.), Teaching English pronunciation: A book of readings (pp. 211–224). London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carr, E.B. (1967). Teaching the th sounds of English. TESOL Quarterly, 1(1), 7–14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chan, A.Y.W. (2006). Cantonese ESL learners’ pronunciation of English final consonants. Culture and Curriculum, 19(3), 296–313. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2010). Advanced Cantonese ESL learners’ production of English speech sounds: Problems and strategies. System, 38(2), 316–328. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, J. (1987). Chinese speakers. In M. Swan & B. Smith (Eds.), Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems (pp. 224–237). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chung, K. (2005). The sounds and allophones of Taiwan English III. [URL]
Derwing, T.M., & Munro, M.J. (2005). Second language accent and pronunciation teaching: A research-based approach. TESOL Quarterly, 379–397. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Derwing, T.M., & Rossiter, M.J. (2002). ESL learners’ perceptions of their pronunciation needs and strategies. System, 301, 155–166. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Deterding, D., & Kirkpatrick, A. (2006). Emerging south-east Asian Englishes and intelligibility. World Englishes, 25(3‐4), 391–409. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dodd, B., Holm, A., Hua, Z., & Crosbie, S. (2003). Phonological development: A normative study of British English-speaking children. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 17(8), 617–643. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Evans, S. (2002). The medium of instruction in Hong Kong: Policy and practice in the new English and Chinese streams. Research Papers in Education, 17(1), 97–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2012). Spread of English across Greater China. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 363–377. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flege, J. (2009). Give input a chance! In T. Piske & M. Young-Scholten (Eds.), Input matters in SLA (pp. 175–190). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flege, J.E., & Liu, S. (2001). The effect of experience on adults’ acquisition of a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 23(4), 527–552. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flege, J.E., Yeni-Komshian, G., & Liu, S. (1999). Age constraints on second-language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language, 411, 78–104. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gatbonton, E., Trofimovich, P., & Segalowitz, N. (2011). Ethnic group affiliation and patterns of development of a phonological variable. The Modern Language Journal, 95(2), 188–204. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gluszek, A., & Dovidio, J.F. (2010). Speaking with a nonnative accent: Perceptions of bias, communication difficulties, and belonging in the United States. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29(2), 224–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, Z.-H. (2004). Fossilization in adult second language acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanulíková, A., & Weber, A. (2012). Sink positive: Linguistic experience with th substitutions influences nonnative word recognition. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 74(3), 613–629. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huang, B.H., & Jun, S-A. (2011). Specifying the age-related effect on the acquisition of second language prosody. Language and Speech, 54(3), 387–414. .Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hung, T.T. (2000). Towards a phonology of Hong Kong English. World Englishes, 19(3), 337–356. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hodson, B., & Paden, E. (1981). Phonological processes which characterize unintelligible and intelligible speech in early childhood. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 461, 369–373. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ioup, G., Boustagui, E., El Tigi, M., & Moselle, M. (1994). Reexamining the critical period hypothesis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16(1), 73–98. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.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
Kaneko, E., Heo, Y., Iverson, G.K., & Wilson, I. (2015). Quasi-neutralization in the acquisition of English coronal fricatives by native speakers of Japanese. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, 1(1), 65–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kessler, B., & Treiman, R. (1997). Syllable structure and the distribution of phonemes in English syllables. Journal of Memory and Language, 37(3), 295–311. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics across cultures. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindemann, S. (2002). Listening with an attitude: A model of native-speaker comprehension of non-native speakers in the United States. Language in Society, 311, 419–441. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lombardi, L. (2003). Second language data and constraints on Manner: Explaining substitutions for the English interdentals. Second Language Research, 19(3), 225–250. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MacKay, I., Flege, J., Piske, T., & Schirru, C. (2001). Category restructuring during second-language (L2) speech acquisition. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1101, 516–528. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maddieson, I., & Precoda, K. (1992). Syllable structure and phonetic models. Phonology, 91, 45–60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moyer, A. (1999). Ultimate attainment in L2 phonology: The critical factors of age, motivation and instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 211, 81–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2004). Age, accent and experience in second language acquisition. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Munro, M.J., & Derwing, T.M. (2006). The functional load principle in ESL pronunciation instruction: An exploratory study. System, 34(4), 520–531. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Munro, M.J., Derwing, T.M., & Thomson, R.I. (2015). Setting segmental priorities for English learners: Evidence from a longitudinal study. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 53(1), 39–60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Przedlacka, J. (2002). Estuary English? A Sociophonetic Study of Teenage Speech in the Home Counties. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ramsey, S.R. (1987). The languages of China. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rau, D.V., Chang, H-H.A., & Tarone, E.E. (2009). Think or sink: Chinese learners’ acquisition of the English voiceless interdental fricative. Language Learning, 581–621. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shitara, Y. (1993). Survey of American pronunciation preferences – a preliminary report. Speech Hearing and Language, 71, 201–232.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smit, A.B., Hand, L., Freilinger, J.J., Bernthal, J.E., & Bird, A. (1990). The Iowa articulation norms project and its Nebraska replication. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 55(4), 779–798. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, B. (2001). Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems. M. Swan (Ed.). Ernst Klett Sprachen. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tahta, S., Wood, M., & Loewenthal, K. (1981). Foreign accents: Factors relating to transfer of accent from the first language to a second language. Language and Speech, 241, 265–272. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thomson, R.I. (2013). ESL teachers’ beliefs and practices in pronunciation teaching: Confidently right or confidently wrong? In J. Levis & K. LeVelle (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. (pp. 224–233). Ames, IA: Iowa State University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wahid, R., & Sulong, S. (2013). The gap between research and practice in the teaching of English pronunciation: Insights from teachers’ beliefs and practices. World Applied Sciences Journal, 211, 133–142.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weinberger, S. (2013). Speech Accent Archive. George Mason University. Retrieved from [URL].
Wells, J. (2008). Longman pronunciation dictionary. New York, NY: Pearson Education India.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Williams, F., Cairns, H., Cairns, C., & Blosser, D. (1971). Analysis of production errors in the phonetic performance of school age standard English speaking children. Center for Communication Research. Austin, Texas.
Winke, P., & Gass, S. (2012). The influence of second language experience and accent familiarity on oral proficiency rating: A qualitative investigation. TESOL Quarterly, 471, 762–789. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

Levis, John M. & Charlie Nagle
2024. Bridging the Gap between Bilingual Phonetic Research and Pronunciation Teaching. In The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingual Phonetics and Phonology, ► pp. 791 ff. DOI logo
Liu, Yushuang & Janet G. van Hell
2024. Neural correlates of listening to nonnative-accented speech in multi-talker background noise. Neuropsychologia 203 ► pp. 108968 ff. DOI logo
Zeng, Jie
2024. International intelligibility of English spoken by college students in the Bashu dialect area of China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 11:1 DOI logo
Wiener, Seth, Zhe Gao, Xiaomeng Li & Zhiyi Wu
2022. Acquisition of non-sibilant anterior English fricatives by adult second language learners. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 8:1 ► pp. 68 ff. DOI logo
NEL, Norma Margaret & Soezin KROG
2021. Factors Influencing the Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese as a Second Additional Language Focusing on Phonetics. Participatory Educational Research 8:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Levis, John M.
2018. Technology and second language pronunciation. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 4:2 ► pp. 173 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