Set within the context of teaching and learning Chinese at an inner-city secondary school in the North of England and adopting a case study research design, this book aims to develop research-informed insights into the nature of the pronunciation challenges facing beginner learners of Chinese.
Robert Neal, Manchester Swire Chinese Language Centre Coordinator, The Manchester Grammar School
Table of Contents
List of figures
List of tables
1 Introduction
Overview of the book
2 From nativeness to intelligibility
Intelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness
Mandarin Chinese as a lingua franca
Second language acquisition perspectives on L2 pronunciation
Intelligibility- oriented research
CSL pronunciation research
The tonal system of Mandarin Chinese
Why are tones difficult for L1 English learners?
CSL tonal perception and training studies
CSL intelligibility studies
Presentation of research questions
3 Challenges of real world pronunciation research
Teachers as second language acquisition researchers
Epistemological assumptions
Conceptual frameworks
Case study research
Background contextualisation
Sampling strategies
Ethical considerations
Data collection instruments
Speaking tasks
Dictation exercises
Accentedness and comprehensibililS8
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