Learning Estonian quantity among speakers of a tonal language

Abstract

There is little research about tonal language speakers learning Estonian quantity degree system. This study aimed to address that gap. 60 Mandarin Chinese speakers participated in an 8-day training experiment. They were randomly assigned to training or control group. An AX discrimination task was used with pseudoword stimuli representing Estonian quantity contrasts. Participants underwent a pretest-training-posttest procedure on both day 1 and day 8, and on days 2-7, they underwent remote training. The control group showed no improvement throughout the experiment. For the training group, both duration and pitch perception improved significantly after the short-term training on day 1. Pitch perception reached an Estonian native listener level, whereas duration perception remained below native-like level. After the 6-day training, both pitch and duration perception showed further improvement. Pitch perception improved to a smaller extent and exceeded native-like performance. Duration perception showed a larger improvement but did not reach native-like level. Our results showed a different learning trajectory of duration and pitch. Duration perception started at a low level and improved to a greater extent than pitch, but still did not reach native level. Pitch perception started high, improved and exceeded native level as a result of extensive training. Results suggest that the L2 phonological feature perception is shaped by L1 experience and remains plastic.