2006/11/01

Grabe, E., Rosner, B. S., Garcia-Albea, J. E., & Zhou, X. (2003). Perception of English intonation by English, Spanish, and Chinese listeners. Language and Speech, 46(4), 375–401.

Presentation: Angela
Summary: Sarah

This study attempts to explore the perception of intonation by both native and non-native speakers, specifically, whether native languages have effects on the intonation perception. In Experiment 1, an English utterance was resynthesized with seven raising intonations and four falling intonations. Subjects of English, Spanish, and Chinese were asked to rate whether any two intonation contours were similar or different. In Experiment 2, the stimuli were pure tones of the same intonation contours from the first experiment. Different subject groups from the same three languages rated the degree of similarity. Results showed that all three groups of subjects could perceptually differentiate rising from falling contours, but differences among contours of the same trend were perceived differently. Based on the results, the authors concluded that a universal auditory mechanism is responsible for the perception of intonation, since speakers of different native languages can unanimously tell raising and falling contours. Yet, experience with a specific language also comes into play during the perceptual process.