Chinese rhythm in second language acquisition

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

E Asian Languages & Cultures

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Lin, Jiani

Contributors dc:contributor

• Shih, Chilin
• Sadler, Misumi
• Yan, Xun
• Su, Yunwen

• Chinese Language
• Rhythm
• Prosodic Constraint
• Heritage Speakers
• Second Language Acquisition

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Jiani Lin

Language dc:language

eng, en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127352

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/127352