Lexical tone perception in native speakers of Cantonese. (February 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Kathy Y. S.; Chan, Kit T. Y.; Lam, Joffee H. S.; van Hasselt, C. A.; Tong, Michael C. F.
• Is Part Of: International journal of speech-language pathology. Volume 17:Number 1(2015:Feb.)
• Page Start: 53
• Page End: 62
• Publication Date: 2015-02
• Subjects: Speech disorders -- Periodicals; Language disorders -- Periodicals; Speech therapy -- Periodicals; 616.855005
• DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2014.898096
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1754-9507

Abstract

<abstract> <title>Abstract</title> <p> <italic>Purpose.</italic> This study aimed at investigating (1) tone perception development among typically-developing Cantonese speakers and (2) the hierarchy of tone perception difficulty among the 15 tone contrasts.</p> <p> <italic>Method.</italic> Two-hundred typically-developing children aged 3–10 and a group of 25 normal hearing adults were recruited. They were tested on a pool of 75-item calibrated recorded speech signals. Participants responded to each stimulus by pointing at the corresponding picture displayed on a computer screen from a choice of four.</p> <p> <italic>Result</italic>. There was a gradual increase in tone perception accuracy from children aged 3–6. After age 6, tone perception accuracy was similar to adults with an average error rate of 3–8%. The two tone contrasts that listeners consistently found difficult to distinguish were T2T5 (high-rising vs low-rising) and T3T6 (mid-level vs low-level). In addition, all children groups also showed difficulty in T4T6 identification (low-falling vs low-level).</p> <p> <italic>Conclusion</italic>. Tone perception is not error-free even among native Cantonese-speaking adults. Overall tone identification performance improved steadily from age 3 to age 6. Based on the participants' performance, a three-tier set of tone groups, with an increasing level of difficulty for identification, is proposed for rehabilitation purposes. These tone groups are (1) Easy: T1T2, T1T3, T1T4, T1T5, T1T6, and T2T3, (2) Medium: T2T4, T2T6, T3T4, and T4T5, and (3) Hard: T2T5, T3T5, T3T6, T4T6, and T5T6.</p> </abstract>