讲座题目：Contribution of segments, intonation and rhythm to 

                     L2 Chinese accentedness and comprehensibility

讲 座 人：杨春生 教授

时  间：2022年1月13日（周四） 上午9：00-11：00

讲座地点：腾讯会议（380-273-971）

讲座人简介：

杨春生，美国康涅狄格大学教授，本科毕业于中国科学技术大学科技英语系，宁波大学英语语言学硕士，美国俄亥俄州立大学(The Ohio State University)中国语言学博士。目前就职于美国康涅狄格大学(University of Connecticut) 语言、文化和文学系，任中文和应用语言学教授，博士生导师，兼任Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 编委 。主要研究方向为二语韵律习得、二语发音教学和研究、应用语言学和计算机辅助教学，在国内外多种期刊上发表论文30余篇，出版专著，编著各1部。

内容简介：

Second language (L2) speech learning entails the learning of both segmental (i.e., vowels and consonants) and suprasegmental aspects (i.e., tones, intonation, rhythm, stress, prosodic phrasing, and so on). Due to the phonetic and phonological difference in segmental and suprasegmental aspects between L2 and the learners’ native language (referred to as L1), L2 learners may have difficulty in acquiring some aspects of L2 speech. Different aspects of L2 speech, however, may affect L2 speech perception and comprehension to varying degrees. While previous studies have examined the effects of segments, intonation, rhythm and fluency on L2 perception and comprehension, many studies have adopted different research paradigms, which renders their findings somewhat incomparable. More importantly, previous studies have only focused on European languages and non-European languages, such as Chinese, have not been investigated. To this end, this paper examines the roles of segments, intonation and rhythm on the perception of L2 accentedness and comprehensibility by focusing on a tone language, Mandarin Chinese. 15 Chinese sentences were manipulated by transferring the segments, intonation and rhythm between L1 and L2 speakers. 64 Chinese native judges listened to the original and manipulated sentences and were asked to rate their accentedness and comprehensibility. Results of the Chinese judges’ accentedness and comprehensibility ratings showed that segments contribute more to the perception of L2 accentedness and comprehensibility than intonation and rhythm, and that intonation contributed more to L2 perception than rhythm. It was also found that accentedness rating highly correlated with comprehensibility judgment. The findings of this study confirm what some recent studies have found regarding the contribution of segments and prosody to L2 perception, but differ from some previous studies in regards to the relationship between accentedness and comprehensibility. The theoretical and pedagogical implications of this study will also be discussed.