Perception of fricative consonants of Portuguese as a second language by Chinese learners
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/diacritica.4802Keywords:
Chinese learners, Experimental study, Fricative consonants, Perception, Portuguese second languageAbstract
This paper investigates the acquisition of the fricative consonants /f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ/ of European Portuguese (EP), focusing on the perception of these fricatives by late Chinese learners of Portuguese as a Second Language (PL2). Thirty native Mandarin-speaking participants who speak PE as a Second Language (L2) were recruited in the experimental group, and 15 native Portuguese speakers in the control group. A sociolinguistic questionnaire and an L2 proficiency test were applied to the experimental group, and an Identification (ID) test of the fricative consonants of the EP was applied to both groups. We conclude that, in general, Chinese learners perceived the fricative consonants of PL2 differently from native Portuguese speakers, and their ability to identify them was weaker than that of native Portuguese speakers. The consonant /s/ of PL2 caused greater difficulty for Chinese learners. The results also support the existence of the vowel context effect in the identification of fricative consonants. Chinese learners performed better in the vocalic context /a/ compared to /i/. This difference may be due to the influence of Mandarin phonotactic constraints. The results also show that the ability to perceive the sounds of an L2 increases with language experience. In general, a strong influence of the First Language (L1) on the development of L2 sounds was confirmed, but this influence decreases as the proficiency level of the speakers increases.
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