A Japanese pitch accent practice program and L1 influence on pitch accent acquisition

Jeff Peterson

doi:10.3765/plsa.v3i1.4276

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that learners of Japanese struggle producing correct Japanese pitch accent. The goal of the present study was to investigate the effect learners’ first language (L1) may have on accent acquisition following the introduction and use of a digital Japanese Pitch Accent Learning and Practice (PALP) program in two Japanese courses. The PALP program visually and aurally presents learners with pitch patterns and requires learners to select the correct pitch accent pattern for new vocabulary. Participants’ pitch accent abilities were assessed at the beginning and end of their courses. A mixed design ANOVA was conducted to analyze the effect of learners’ L1 on pitch accent acquisition. Results evince a significant interaction effect between participant group (treatment/control) and L1 (Chinese/English), F(1, 24) = 10.09, p < .01 (η2 = .30). Specifically, English L1 participants in the treatment group considerably outperformed the control group English L1 participants. However, the Chinese L1 participants in both groups performed at approximately equal levels. These results suggest the existence of an L1 influence on pitch accent acquisition.

Highlights

Students of Japanese often face many difficulties in their attempts to gain control of standardized Japanese pronunciation
We reject the null hypothesis, suggesting that learners’ L1 does have an effect on their ability to learn Japanese pitch accent. These results suggest that without any specific pitch accent training intervention, learners whose L1 pronunciation type is more similar to Japanese (Chinese L1) are more able to acquire correct Japanese pitch accent than those whose L1 pronunciation type is less similar to Japanese (English L1)
Is there a relationship between learners’ L1 and their ability to learn correct Japanese pitch accent? The present study found that if given no specific pitch accent training intervention beyond what is traditionally available, learners whose L1 pronunciation type is more similar to Japanese (Chinese L1) are more able to acquire correct Japanese pitch accent than those whose L1 pronunciation type is less similar to Japanese (English L1)

Summary

Introduction

Students of Japanese often face many difficulties in their attempts to gain control of standardized Japanese pronunciation. Others have difficulty producing correct intonation in Japanese (Abe 1957, Beckman & Pierrehumbert 1986, Eda 2004, Venditti & Swerts 1996). Other leaners may struggle with parts of Japanese speech that they may not even know exist (Venditti & Swerts 1996). Many (possibly unbeknownst to themselves) struggle producing correct Japanese pitch accent (A & Hayashi 2010, Cutler & Otake 1999, Hirose 2004, Nakamura et al 2013). Nakamura et al (2013) state that many learners of Japanese don’t know that Japanese has pitch accent because it is “rarely taught in [the] classroom” (:2554) Many (possibly unbeknownst to themselves) struggle producing correct Japanese pitch accent (A & Hayashi 2010, Cutler & Otake 1999, Hirose 2004, Nakamura et al 2013). Nakamura et al (2013) state that many learners of Japanese don’t know that Japanese has pitch accent because it is “rarely taught in [the] classroom” (:2554)

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