Acquisition of Chinese as a Second Language Pronunciation

Chunsheng Yang is an Associate Professor of Chinese and Applied Linguistics at the University of Connecticut. His main focus areas are the acquisition of second language prosody (tones, intonation, stress, and rhythm) and second language pronunciation teaching and research. He has published numerous articles and one monograph (The Acquisition of Second Language Mandarin Prosody: From Experimental Studies to Pedagogical Practice by John Benjamins Publishing Company) in these areas. He is also interested in Chinese linguistics, Chinese pedagogy, computer-assisted language learning, and applied linguistics in general.

“The Acquisition of Chinese as a Second Language Pronunciation: Segments and Prosody … is a collection of articles with a mix of empirical research and theoretical discussions that substantially contributes to a booming research field: Chinese as a second language (CSL) pronunciation. … The Acquisition of Chinese as a Second Language Pronunciation: Segments and Prosody is a valuable contribution to the field of CSL pronunciation.” (Wei Zhang, Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, Vol. 18 (1), 2022)“The Acquisition of Chinese as a Second Language Pronunciation: Segments and Prosody, which covers a wide range of issues on CSL pronunciation and integrates theory, practice, and pedagogy, nicely fills in the research gap. … it is noteworthy that this edited volume nicely serves its purpose of integrating theory, practice, and pedagogy, by containing thought-provoking pedagogical suggestions in most chapters based on the research findings, which will help CSL practitioners make research-informed decisions in their teaching practice.” (Qingyi Chen, Yanrong Du and Shuxiang You, International Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Vol. 9 (1), 2022)

• 1. Introduction of Second Language Chinese pronunciation.- 2. Segment acquisition.- 3. L2 tone/segment acquisition.- 4. Tone processing in L1 and L2.- 5. Categorical perception of Mandarin tones by native and second language (L2) speakers.- 6. Effects of segments, intonation and rhythm on the perception of L2 accentedness and comprehensibility.- 7. Effects of F0 and context on L2 Chinese intelligibility.- 8. The role of vocabulary knowledge in second language speaking fluency.- 9. Pronunciation issues among Chinese heritage language learners.- 10. L2 Chinese pronunciation teaching: Segments.- 11. L2 Chinese pronunciation teaching: Suprasegmentals or prosody.- 12. Assessment of L2 Chinese pronunciation.- 13. Higher variability phonetic training: Tones, segments with higher error gravity/functional load, to be decided (tentative).- 14. Computer assisted language teaching of CSL pronunciation, to be decided (tentative).- 15. Orthography and CSL pronunciation, to be decided (tentative).