The effect of perceiving pitch gestures in the acquisition of Mandarin Chinese tones and words

Abstract

Very few SLA studies have investigated the benefits of pitch gestures in Chinese language learning (see Chen 2013, Morett and Wang 2014).The present MA thesis is concerned with (a) assessing the contributions of observing pitch gestures in tonal contrast awareness, (b) exploring the potential reduction of the cognitive effort resulting in word recall facilitation triggered by observing the pitch gesture, and (c) with investigating the relative benefits of observing pitch gestures in those who already have well-developed auditory skills (i.e. musical training). Two between-subject experiments, with two experimental conditions (Gesture-Observe, No-Gesture), were conducted among 50 participants. Results indicate that observing pitch gestures significantly strengthens both participants’ identification of Mandarin lexical tones and vocabulary learning. Nonetheless, for those with already good auditory skills, pitch gestures do not seem to enhance their tone identification accuracy. These findings have methodological implications in CSL (Chinese as a Second Language) pronunciation practices.