Auditory training has been shown to be effective in the identification of non-native segmental distinctions. In this study, it was investigated whether such training is applicable to the acquisition of non-native suprasegmental contrasts, i.e., Mandarin tones. Using the high-variability paradigm, eight American learners of Mandarin were trained in eight sessions during the course of two weeks to identify the four tones in natural words produced by native Mandarin talkers. The trainees' identification accuracy revealed an average 21% increase from the pretest to the post-test, and the improvement gained in training was generalized to new stimuli ͑18% increase͒ and to new talkers and stimuli ͑25% increase͒. Moreover, the six-month retention test showed that the improvement was retained long after training by an average 21% increase from the pretest. The results are discussed in terms of non-native suprasegmental perceptual modification, and the analogies between L2 acquisition processes at the segmental and suprasegmental levels.

A series of experiments was conducted to determine the properties that contribute to fricative perception. Listeners’ identification of English fricatives based on fricative-vowel syllables and on isolated fricative noise portions reveals the perceptual salience of each fricative and the extent to which fricative-to-vowel transitions contribute to identification. Two further experiments specifically address perception of the nonsibilant fricatives, which, it has been claimed, may be based more on semantic or facial factors. One experiment investigates how a semantically matching or mismatching precursor affects perception of minimal pairs (e.g., fin-thin). A second experiment determines the extent to which auditory and/or visual information each contribute to fricative perception. Moreover, regression of these perceptual data on acoustic measurements, including noise duration, amplitude, relative amplitude, spectral peak location, spectral moments, and locus equations [see Jongman et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 3086A (1998)], indicates which acoustic properties play a significant role in fricative perception. [Work supported by NIH.]

Training American listeners to perceive the four Mandarin lexical tones has been shown to be effective [Y. Wang, A. Jongman, and J. A. Sereno, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 3090(A) (1998)]. Eight trainees participated in a two-week training program, after which their tone identification accuracy showed an overall 21% increase from the pretest to the posttest, and the improvement was generalized to new stimuli and new talkers. Further studies have now been carried out to investigate whether the tone contrasts gained perceptually can be transferred to the production domain without additional training. Before their perception pretest and after their posttest, the same trainees were recorded, producing a list of 80 Mandarin words bearing the four tones. Their productions were judged by 40 native Mandarin listeners in an identification task. Trainees’ posttest tone productions were on average 16% more accurately identified than their pretest productions, indicating significant tone production improvement after perceptual training. Acoustic analyses of the pre- and posttraining productions further reveal the nature of the improvement. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between non-native tone perception and production as well as learning at the suprasegmental level.