L2 ENGLISH VOWEL LEARNING BY MANDARIN SPEAKERS: DOES PERCEPTION PRECEDE PRODUCTION

摘要

Many researchers argue that inaccuracy in L2 speech perception is the source of L2 accent (Flege, 1995), while others contend that L2 speech perception and production develop simultaneously (Best, 1995). There is little evidence that L2 production can precede L2 perception. Sheldon & Strange (1982) found that Japanese speakers were able to accurately produce the English IV-lil contrast without being able to perceive it However, that ability might have resulted from prior pronunciation instruction, coupled with a reading task where speakers could more easily attend to articulation. Munro and Derwing's (2008) study of Mandarin and Slavic speakers' acquisition of English vowels found learners' production ability improved in the absence of explicit pronunciation instruction. Because their research elicited L2 English production using auditory prompts, we can assume that the learners' ability to perceive English vowels must also have improved to at least the same extent.