Observing Pitch Gestures Favors the Learning of Spanish Intonation by Mandarin Speakers

Abstract

Recent studies on the learning of L2 prosody have suggested that pitch gestures can enhance the learning of the L2 lexical tones. Yet it remains unclear whether the use of these gestures can aid the learning of L2 intonation, especially by tonal-language speakers. Sixty-four Mandarin speakers with basic-level Spanish were asked to learn three Spanish intonation patterns, all involving a low tone on the nuclear accent. In a pre-post test experimental design, half of the participants received intonation training without the use of pitch gestures (the control group) while the other half received the same training but with pitch gestures representing nuclear intonation contours (the experimental group). Musical (melody, pitch) abilities were also measured. The results revealed that (a) the experimental group significantly improved intonational production outcomes, and (b) even though participants with stronger musical abilities performed better, those with weaker musical abilities benefited more from observing pitch gestures.

Observing and Producing Pitch Gestures Facilitates the Learning of Mandarin Chinese Tones and Words

“…The results of our study add more evidence in favor of the benefits of pitch gestures for learning L2 tones and intonation (Hannah et al, 2016;Kelly et al, 2017;Morett & Chang 2015;Yuan et al, 2018). Specifically, our results partially replicate and extend the findings by Morett and Chang (2015).…”

“…In contrast with the positive results obtained in various studies on the role of pitch gestures on the acquisition of second language tones or intonation (Hannah et al, 2016; Kelly et al, 2017; Morett & Chang, 2015; Yuan et al, 2018), there is to date no clear view on how other types of metaphoric (and beat) gestures affect phonological learning. In contrast with the positive effects of pitch gestures for learning L2 tones and intonation, the results of studies targeting the effectiveness of what are called “length gestures” to learn duration contrasts in a second language are not so clear.…”

“…Moreover, when the gesture was incongruent, accuracy was significantly lower than the control condition. The third study, by Yuan, González-Fuente, Baills, and Prieto (2018), tested whether pitch gesture observation would help the learning of difficult Spanish intonation pattern by 64 Chinese basic-level learners. Half of the participants received intonation training without gestures while the other half received the same training with pitch gestures representing nuclear intonation contours.…”

The Efficacy of Gesture on Second Language Pronunciation: An Exploratory Study of Handclapping as a Classroom Instructional Tool

“…Moreover, the fact that we found the effect at the time of the delayed posttest speaks to memory‐enhancing effects of multimodal encoding (dual‐coding theory; Paivio, 1991; Paivio & Desrochers, 1980, and the enactment effect; Engelkamp & Dehn, 2000). Therefore, this study suggests that the memory‐enhancing effect of gestures, which has been found in the domain of vocabulary (e.g., Huang et al., 2019; Kelly et al., 2009; Tellier, 2008), and more recently, in grammar (Nakatsukasa, 2016) and suprasegmental features of speech (e.g., Yuan et al., 2019), might reach the segmental phonology level of L2 acquisition. However, this interpretation must be treated with caution.…”

“…Zhang, Baills, and Prieto (2018), for example, found that Chinese monolinguals learned the rhythmic patterns of French words better through the use of handclapping. Metaphoric pitch gestures (Yuan, González‐Fuente, Baills, & Prieto, 2019) and rhythmic beat gestures (Gluhareva & Prieto, 2017) have also been reported to help L2 learners improve intonation patterns in Spanish and accentedness in English, respectively. Therefore, when it comes to suprasegmentals, both observational and experimental studies have seemed to suggest that gestures are useful for L2 pronunciation instruction.…”