Hand Gestures Facilitate the Acquisition of Novel Phonemic Contrasts When They Appropriately Mimic Target Phonetic Features

Autor/inn/en	Xi, Xiaotong; Li, Peng; Baills, Florence; Prieto, Pilar
Titel	Hand Gestures Facilitate the Acquisition of Novel Phonemic Contrasts When They Appropriately Mimic Target Phonetic Features
Quelle	In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63 (2020) 11, S.3571-3585 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Xi, Xiaotong) ORCID (Li, Peng) ORCID (Baills, Florence) ORCID (Prieto, Pilar)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1092-4388
Schlagwörter	Phonemes; Language Acquisition; Second Language Learning; Language Rhythm; Suprasegmentals; Nonverbal Communication; Phonetics; Mandarin Chinese; Task Analysis; Imitation; Native Speakers; Identification; Second Language Instruction; Novelty (Stimulus Dimension); Romance Languages; Teaching Methods; Comparative Analysis; Pronunciation; Familiarity; Pretests Posttests; Foreign Countries; Acoustics; Measurement; Spain (Barcelona) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Fonem; Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Sprachrhythmus; Non-verbal communication; Nonverbale Kommunikation; Phonetik; Fonetik; Aufgabenanalyse; Muttersprachler; Identifikation; Identifizierung; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Romanische Sprache; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Aussprache; Ausland; Akustik; Messverfahren
Abstract	Purpose: Research has shown that observing hand gestures mimicking pitch movements or rhythmic patterns can improve the learning of second language (L2) suprasegmental features. However, less is known about the effects of hand gestures on the learning of novel phonemic contrasts. This study examines (a) whether hand gestures mimicking phonetic features can boost L2 segment learning by naive learners and (b) whether a mismatch between the hand gesture form and the target phonetic feature influences the learning effect. Method: Fifty Catalan native speakers undertook a short multimodal training session on two types of Mandarin Chinese consonants (plosives and affricates) in either of two conditions--Gesture and No Gesture. In the Gesture condition, a fist-to-open-hand gesture was used to mimic air burst, while the No Gesture condition included no such use of gestures. Crucially, while the hand gesture appropriately mimicked the air burst produced in plosives, this was not the case for affricates. Before and after training, participants were tested on two tasks, namely, the identification task and the imitation task. Participants' speech output was rated by five Chinese native speakers. Results: The perception results showed that training with or without gestures yielded similar degrees of improvement for the identification of aspiration contrasts. By contrast, the production results showed that, while training without gestures did not help improve L2 pronunciation, training with gestures improved pronunciation, but only when the given gestures appropriately mimicked the phonetic properties they represented. Conclusions: Results revealed that the efficacy of observing hand gestures on the learning of nonnative phonemes depends on the appropriateness of the form of those gestures relative to the target phonetic features. That is, hand gestures seem to be more useful when they appropriately mimic phonetic features. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01