The Effects of Linguistic Experience on Perceptual Assimilation of Lexical Tone

This study examines the effects of L1 tone experience and L2 learning experience on tone assimilation. It has been proposed that perceptual assimilation of segments is tied to L1 and L2 contrasts at the phonetic level for listeners without L2 experience [1] but at both phonetic and phonological levels for those with L2 experience [2]. In this examination of perceptual assimilation of lexical tones, 80 native Mandarin and Thai listeners with or without L2 experience performed a mapping-rating assimilation task in which they first identified which L1 tone sounded most similar to the L2 tone they heard, and then rated its goodness on a 5-point scale. The inexperienced listeners assimilated L2 tones to L1 tones with the most similar phonetic properties, i.e., pitch height and direction. The experienced listeners were also influenced by phonemic tone sandhi changes in Mandarin. In other words, Mandarin rising tone and Thai low-falling tone were assimilated to the Thai and Mandarin falling-rising tone. These findings support the Perceptual Assimilation Model [1] and Perceptual Assimilation Model-L2 [2].