Contrastive phonetics in
language learning
新加坡國立大學中文系碩士研究生
司秋雪
g0800852@nus.edu.sg
南台科技大學
鐘榮富
rfchung@mail.nsysu.edu.tw
Mandarin fricatives

3 fricatives: /s/，// and //

They are marked in learning Mandarin as
a foreign language.
Case studies:
“私”“失”“西”

What do you hear？

Why should there be such errors？

How to improve？
Problems for solutions:

What is the fricative characteristics of
mother tongue？

What causes the problems？

What is the difference？

Why should there be such distinction？

How to minimize the distinction？
Outline

Phonetic parameters of fricatives

Compare the mother tongue and the
target language in fricatives

Clarify the errors

What is the difference among the
learners?

Application of phonetic theories in
Phonetic parameters of fricatives
frequency peak（spectral slope）。
Mandarin x[]
Korean students’ K and M
Korean ss’ /i/ and [i]
Korean /i/ and Mandarin /i/
Korean and Mandarin fricatives
KB [] and Korean[]
Japanese students’ Mandarin
fricatives
Japanese ss’s LPC
What causes errors?

[s]、[]and [] not acquired

[s] and []are interfered by the mother
tongue

[]free from interference
Japanese and Korean in Mandarin

identical：
1. [s] and [] errors, from MT interference。
2. []not so stable in the place of articulation。

different：
[s] and []are articulated differently
In pedagogical practice

Difference between L1 and L2

Sketching out the errors

Practice on the basis of phonetic
findings
Thanks for your attention！