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Estimation of vocal tract steadiness in speakers of Mandarin-accented English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Yang Chen
Yang Chen*
Affiliation:
Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Duquesne [email protected]
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Abstract

Vocal tract steadiness reflected by measurement of fluctuation of the second formant frequency is reported for vowel production of Mandarin-accented English (MAE). Fluctuations of the second formant frequency for the 11 English vowels (/i ɪ e ɛ æ ʌ u ʊ o ɔ ɑ/) were examined in the syllable-level productions of 40 Mandarin speakers compared to 40 American English (AE) speakers. Results of the comparative analysis indicate that the pattern of vocal tract steadiness of MAE speakers is generally different in comparison to AE speakers. The discrepancy of vocal tract steadiness between MAE and AE speakers are interpreted as the probable outcome of brain reorganization in adult L2 learning. In addition, discussions of likely gender dimorphism in brain reorganization in L2 learning are provided in view of the opposite patterns of vocal tract steadiness demonstrated by MAE females and males, in comparison to their AE counterparts.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Phonetic Association , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , August 2009 , pp. 189 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © International Phonetic Association 2009

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