Effects of phonological training on tone perception for English listeners

The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which phonological training improves categorical perception of Mandarin Chinese tones in native speakers of American English. Two sets of F0 continuums were generated from rising to level tones and from falling to level tones. Participants underwent identification tasks before (pre-training) and after (post-training) phonological training. Pre-training tests showed that the tone identification shifted gradually from contoured tones (rising/falling) to level tones as a function of F0 frequency. Phonological trainings were provided to listeners in two consecutive days with each session lasting for one hour. In phonological training, listeners were provided immediate feedback (correct/incorrect) after making response in Mandarin tone patterns. Results showed that tone identification function became significantly steeper with phonological training. Ongoing work is now testing the extent to which a longer training regiment can enhance categorical perception of tones.