Identifying Mandarin Tones with Intonation is Difficult for L2 Learners, Regardless of Their Experience

Abstract

In Mandarin Chinese, fundamental frequency ( f 0 ) is the primary cue for the identification of both lexical tone and intonation. When tone and intonation coincide, the f 0 parameters of intonation-overlaid tones deviate from those of citation tones. In this study, a tone identification experiment was conducted with both inexperienced and experienced second language (L2) learners to investigate how well L2 learners identify tones produced in two different intonation patterns (statement and question) and whether increased L2 experience facilitates the identification. The results showed that tones overlaid by question intonation were more difficult to identify than those not. Moreover, the experienced learners did not outperform the inexperienced learners, suggesting that identifying intonation-overlaid tones is difficult for learners, regardless of their L2 experience.