Presentation

A Mandarin Speaker’s Intonational Emphasis in English and Mandarin Lectures

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Abstract

Research suggests that native English speakers and non-native English speakers use different English intonation patterns (Pickering, 2004; Wennerstrom, 1998) and that prosody significantly affects English learners’ intelligibility and comprehensibility (Derwing, Munro, & Wiebe, 1998). However, cross-linguistic studies of non-native English speakers’ prosody production in English and in their first languages are highly limited. This study investigates the given-new stress connection (GNSC) realized in a Mandarin speaker’s speech in English and in the same speaker’s speech in Mandarin. The results show that the Mandarin speaker lacks the ability to effectively use pitch as a prosodic cue to mark new versus old information in English but the same speaker is able to effectively use prosodic cues to contrast new versus old information in Mandarin. Furthermore, a large portion of the new information that should be emphasized in English is emphasized in the Mandarin version but not the English version of the lecture. The findings of this study imply that Mandarin speakers may use prosodic features to emphasize new information while speaking in Mandarin but they may not fully transfer this strategy to English. The findings of this study also imply that ESL learners’ first language could be a valuable resource in English prosody teaching.

How to Cite:

Liu, D., (2016) “A Mandarin Speaker’s Intonational Emphasis in English and Mandarin Lectures”, Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Proceedings 8(1).