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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127352
Description
Title
Chinese rhythm in second language acquisition
Author(s)
Lin, Jiani
Issue Date
2024-11-25
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Shih, Chilin
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Shih, Chilin
Committee Member(s)
Sadler, Misumi
Yan, Xun
Su, Yunwen
Department of Study
E. Asian Languages & Cultures
Discipline
E Asian Languages & Cultures
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Chinese language
rhythm
prosodic constraint
heritage speakers
second language acquisition
Abstract
Mandarin Chinese exhibits unique prosodic constraints on the formation of words and phrases. These constraints are unique to Chinese and are often studied within the broader framework of Chinese phonology, morphology, syntax, and natural language processing. However, little is known about how non-native speakers process and acquire these constraints. This dissertation investigates whether Chinese second language (L2) learners and heritage learners can acquire such prosodic constraints. Two broad research questions are asked: (1) Can adult L2 learners of Chinese acquire these prosodic constraints? (2) Do heritage speakers have selective advantages over L2 learners in learning such prosodic constraints?
To answer these questions, three studies were conducted. The first two studies employed Acceptability Judgment Tasks (AJTs) to explore how native speakers, heritage learners, and L2 learners perceive prosodic constraints in noun-noun (NN) compounds and verb-object (VO) phrases. The results revealed that native speakers were very sensitive to prosodic constraints, particularly in semantically congruent contexts. L2 learners, however, showed minimal sensitivity to prosodic violations, suggesting that prosodic constraints are challenging to acquire in adulthood. Heritage learners displayed some degree of sensitivity to prosodic constraints, though not as strongly as native speakers. The two AJTs also identified an interaction effect between prosody and semantics, showing that the effect of prosody depends on semantic conditions. The third study complements the AJTs by analyzing learner production data from a large-scale Chinese learner corpus—the HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, the Chinese Proficiency Test) Dynamic Composition Corpus. This corpus study identifies violations of prosodic rules in real-world language use, focusing on multi-syllabic modifier-noun (MN) compounds and VO phrases.
By integrating experimental methods and corpus analysis, this dissertation underscores the persistent difficulties L2 learners face with prosodic constraints, while heritage learners demonstrate a more native-like application of prosodic rules.
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