Systematic review: The identification of segmental Mandarin-accented English features

• A synthesized list of 44 segmental Mandarin-accented English features from a systematic review • Frequent segmental Mandarin-accented English features and their intelligibility impacts • Segmental Mandarin accented English features and their applications The pronunciation of L2 English by L1 Mandarin speakers is influenced by transfer effects from the phonology of Mandarin. However, there is a research gap in systematically synthesizing and reviewing segmental Mandarin-accented English features (SMAEFs) from the existing literature. An accurate and comprehensive description of SMAEFs is necessary for applied science in relevant fields. To identify the segmental features that are most consistently described as characteristic of Mandarin-accented English in previous literature. A systematic review was conducted. The studies were identified through searching in nine databases with eight screening criteria. The systematic review yield nineteen studies with a total of 1,873 Mandarin English speakers. The included studies yielded 44 SMAEFs, classified into Vowel and Consonant categories, under which there are multiple sub-categories. The results are supported by evidence of different levels of strength. The four frequently reported findings, which are 1) variations in vowel height and frontness, 2) schwa epenthesis, 3) variations in closure duration in plosives and 4) illegal consonant deletion, were identified and analyzed in terms of their potential intelligibility outcomes. The number of SMAEFs is large. These features occur in numerous traditional phonetic categories and two categories (i.e. schwa epenthesis and illegal consonant deletion) that are not typically used to describe features in connected speech. This study outcomes may provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in the fields of English Language Teaching, phonetics, and speech recognition system development in terms of selecting the pronunciation features to focus on in teaching and research or supporting the successful identification of accented features.