15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS-15)Barcelona, Spain |
In this study, we examined the perceptual learning of lexical tones
in Mandarin Chinese by American young adults, and children from 6 to
14 years old, covering the age range surrounding the "critical period".
The participants received a two-week computerized Mandarin tone training
program designed to be child-friendly. The results showed that, for
the trainees in each of the four age groups but not the controls, percent
correct identification increased significantly from the pre-training
test to the post-training test, indicating significant improvement
after training across age groups. However, comparing the pre-puberty
and the post-puberty groups, we did not find an abrupt decrease in
the degree of improvement, as would have been predicted by the Critical
Period Hypothesis. These results support the view that language learning
is not a strictly timed developmental process with rigid cut-off periods.
Bibliographic reference. Wang, Yue / Kuhl, Patricia K. (2003): "Evaluating the "critical period" hypothesis: perceptual learning of Mandarin tones in American adults and American children at 6, 10 and 14 years of age", In ICPhS-15, 1537-1540.