L2 Acquisition of Lexical Tones and the Role of the L1: A Categorical and Neural Approach.

There is an established knowledge on the influences of a speaker's first language (L1) on how vowels and consonants
are produced in a secondly acquired language (L2). However, relatively little is known on how L1 influences the L2
acquisition of pitch (i.e. the relative height of words), and in particular for L2s where words have defined pitch patterns
that are crucial in distinguishing meanings between homonyms (also known as tone languages). This research
addresses L2 tone acquisition by looking at the perception, the production, and the neural processing of L2 tones by
speakers from three languages (Mandarin, Japanese, English) in which tone has a different function. It is unique in its
set-up by incorporating two existing theories on L2 tone acquisition which up until now have only been tested separately,
and by conducting experiments in the domains of perception, production, and neural processing. The data from these
experiments are expected to provide improved insight into how speakers from different linguistic backgrounds perceive,
produce, and process tonal information. Such data will 1) contribute to the establishment of a theoretical model for L2
tone acquisition, 2) have implications on teaching methods, which is relevant since tone is one of the hardest and least
understood aspects of L2 speech learning, and 3) will contribute to our knowledge on how our brain processes acoustic
stimuli as linguistic information.