Pronunciation of Novel Phonemes in Mandarin Chinese for L2 Speakers

Taking on any second language (L2) can be a challenge as learners are faced with the task of learning new vocabulary, structures, and even sounds. Pronunciation specifically can cause issues for learners when they encounter sounds (i.e., phonemes) that do not exist in their first language(s) (L1). The Perceptual Assimilation Model states that speakers will assimilate unfamiliar phonemes to those they are more familiar with in their L1, and the Revised Speech Learning Model states that speakers have the ability to create new phonetic categories for unfamiliar phonemes in an L2, just as they do when learning an L1 in childhood. For this study, L1 speakers of English learning L2 Mandarin Chinese were asked to pronounce phonemes that do not occur in English to determine whether these learners replace these phonemes with ones that occur in English, or if they accommodate their production to the standard Mandarin pronunciation by adding a new phonetic category. By analyzing formant data from intermediate-level Mandarin Chinese speakers' speech, multiple compensation strategies were displayed, employing tactics from multiple documented models of phonological acquisition.