Teaching Tonal Discrimination Based on Statistical Properties and Acoustical Characteristics of the Chinese Four Tones : With Regard to the Contrast between Tone-2 and Tone-3

摘要

Based on the statistical properties of occurrence frequency and transition probability of the Chinese four tones and the acoustical characteristics of their phonatory control and perceptual response, a Computer-Assisted Instruction system for teaching tonal discrimination to beginners was designed, with special regard to the contrast between Tone-2 and Tone-3. In order to emphasize the difference from the Japanese word accent, intermediate tonal stimulus with synthetic speech and visual display of change in voice pitch were utilized in practicing perception, and the efficiency was improved by introducing the CAI algorithm. In practicing phonation, the target voice pitch patterns were adapted to the talker's voice register which is derived from measurement of fundamental frequency in speaking, and indicated on the screen. The possibility of transferring the system to a self-learning program through the internet was also discussed.