How do L1 Chinese raters process the L2 Chinese speech signal at the sentence level with respect to accentedness, comprehensibility and intelligibility?
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Robert Neal
Robert Neal recently completed his ESRC-funded PhD thesis at the University of Cambridge in which he investigated the intelligibility of young Anglophone beginner learners of Mandarin. He is currently employed as the Manchester Swire Centre Chinese Language Coordinator and can be contacted at
r.j.neal@mgs.org .
Abstract
Set within the context of teaching and learning Chinese at two secondary schools in the North of England and adopting a case study research design, the aim of this study was to develop research-informed insights into the nature of the pronunciation challenges facing beginner learners of Chinese. Data collection activities included recording the spoken Chinese of 20 L2 learners during a read-aloud task and a question-answer activity. Forty L1 raters were subsequently interviewed as they rated and transcribed the learners’ randomized speech samples. Distinguishing between the key constructs of accentedness, comprehensibility and intelligibility, it was found that heavily accented tones did not necessarily lead to lower levels of comprehensibility and intelligibility. Furthermore, many intelligibility breakdowns – i.e. when raters failed to correctly transcribe the learners’ intended utterances – could be traced to problems with individual words which usually implicated segmental sounds as well as tone. Findings are interpreted in terms of indicating a need for more nuanced classroom priorities aimed at the promotion of intelligible speech as opposed to an unrealistic focus on developing a native-like accent.
摘要
本研究以英格兰北部两所中学汉语教学和学习为背景，并采用个案研究的设计，旨在对汉语初学者所面临的发音难题的性质进行深入研究。数据收集活动包括录制二十名中文二语学习者在进行朗读任务和问答活动中所使用的中文口语。随后采访四十名母语为中文的评分员，由他们对学习者的随机语音样本进行评分和转录。在区分了口音、可理解性和可懂度等关键结构后，发现洋腔洋调的口音不一定会导致较低的可理解性和可懂度。此外，许多可懂度故障——即当评分员未能正确转录学习者原本想说的话语时——实则可以追溯到单个词语的问题，而这些问题词语通常既涉及到音段的问题又牵涉到声调的问题。研究结果显示，课堂教学应以倡导话语的可懂性为优先教学目的，而不是不切实际地专注于提升近似母语的纯正口音。
Funding source: Economic and Social Research Council http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000269
Award Identifier / Grant number: 1088044
About the author
Robert Neal recently completed his ESRC-funded PhD thesis at the University of Cambridge in which he investigated the intelligibility of young Anglophone beginner learners of Mandarin. He is currently employed as the Manchester Swire Centre Chinese Language Coordinator and can be contacted at r.j.neal@mgs.org.
Acknowledgments
The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number 1088044].
Appendix A: Speaking tasks used to elicit L2 Chinese speech samples
Students were asked to read aloud the following ten sentences. Less obvious examples of tone sandhi were considered when preparing the pīnyīn transcriptions. For example, the diacritical tone markers on words such as ‘bù’ (no/not) and ‘dă’ (to play) were changed depending on the tone of the following word in the sentence.
妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old)
哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat)
你喜欢喝茶吗？Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?)
他的卧室很大 Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is very big)
我八点上学 Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock)
你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?)
姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bú kàn shū (Older sister doesn’t read books)
我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dá wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays)
你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?)
我不会游泳 Wŏ bú huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim)
In the question-answer activity, I asked a range of questions about topics already covered in class, such as life at school and daily routine. Learners were expected to answer without any recourse to notes and were not given the list of questions in advance. Below is a list of some of the questions I typically used.
你叫什么？What’s your name?
你多大？How old are you?
你的生日是几月几日？When’s your birthday?
你家有几口人？How many people are there in your family?
你的爱好是什么？What are your hobbies?
你几点起床？What time do you get up?
你几点睡觉？What time do you go to bed?
你最喜欢吃什么？What’s your favorite food?
你最喜欢喝什么？What’s your favorite drink?
你最喜欢什么课？What’s your favorite subject?
Appendix B: Coding for each of the Category 2 transcriptions (n = 52)
| Learner | Task type | Utterance | Rater’s comments (edited) | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗？ Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 2 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗？ Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | Because in the final words it is like go up but usually we say go down | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 2 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | The tone […] not so natural than native but it’s good for the foreigners | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 2 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | Emphasis […] a little strange so it’s a little accent | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 2 | Role play | 我的爱好是听音乐 Wŏ de ài hào shì tīng yīn yuè (My hobby is listening to music) | I think it’s quite easy to understand but the last words yue is not very accurate […] I think the tone | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 2 | Role play | 我的爱好是听音乐 Wŏ de ài hào shì tīng yīn yuè (My hobby is listening to music) | Yeah the final one it’s ‘tīng yīn yuè’, it’s not ‘tīng yīn yué’ so the tone | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 3 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | I think just some of the tones but then she paused at the correct place so I know like these two words are together […] so it helps me to understand | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 3 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 7 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 7 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 8 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 8 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 11 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister doesn’t read books) | It’s ‘kàn shū’ and he has the tone wrong | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 11 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister doesn’t read books) | For sister we might say ‘jiĕ jie’ so the second word the pronunciation might be a little bit different […] I mean you need to soften the second word | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 11 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | This one is ‘huì’, he said ‘huī’, the wrong tone | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 11 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | For the accent I think it’s a little bit about the tone like ‘bù huì’ | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 11 | Role play | 我喜欢喝可乐Wŏ xĭ huan hē kĕ lè (I like to drink Coke) | This one is ‘kĕ’ and what he said is similar to cola | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 11 | Role play | 我喜欢喝可乐Wŏ xĭ huan hē kĕ lè (I like to drink Coke) | It’s ‘hē’ in Chinese but he’s speaking ‘hō’ and also it’s the tone in ‘kĕ lè’ | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 12 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大 Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is very big) | It’s easy to understand | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 12 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大 Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is very big) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 13 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | Still the last one ‘jĭ yuè jĭ rì’, he said ‘jĭ yuè jĭ rí’ or something | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 13 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | I think the standard pronunciation should be ‘jĭ yuè jĭ rì’, but he pronounced that as ‘jī yué jī rí’ […] Yes, I think it’s the tones | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 14 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗？ Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | The tone of ‘nĭ’ is a little bit different | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 14 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗？Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | He should be ‘hē chá’, not ‘hè chá’ ‘cos even in China, with different regions it should be ‘hē chá’ so that would be a foreigner accent for me | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 14 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | ‘Bā diăn’, ‘bà’ tone is different, ‘xué’ said in a different, pronounced x probably in an English way but they don’t affect the comprehensibility of the sentence, it’s very easy to understand | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 14 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | The tone for ‘bā’, the person said ‘bà’, but it’s easy to understand | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 14 | Role play | 我最喜欢数学课 Wŏ zuì xĭ huan shù xué kè (My favourite subject is Math) | I cannot pin down where is the source but there is a bit of a foreign accent there | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 14 | Role play | 我最喜欢数学课 Wŏ zuì xĭ huan shù xué kè (My favourite subject is Math) | The ‘zuì’ is a little bit different, one is the tone and the sound | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 14 | Role play | 我喜欢喝可乐Wŏ xĭ huan hē kĕ lè (I like to drink Coke) | Tone on ‘wŏ’, also there’s a pause between ‘hē’ and ‘kĕ lè’, we’d have a pause, if at all, between ‘xĭ huan’ and ‘hē’, ‘hē kĕ lè’ is a set pattern | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 14 | Role play | 我喜欢喝可乐Wŏ xĭ huan hē kĕ lè (I like to drink Coke) | The tone for ‘kĕ lè’ is not correct, the person said ‘kē lè’, the rest is okay | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 16 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (how old are you?) | They pronounce the pinyin without any tone or the wrong tone, they have no concept of tone, just with their feeling, so I think I can’t say it’s wrong, they just don’t know what tone is | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 16 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (how old are you?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 16 | Role play | 我喜欢喝可乐Wŏ xĭ huan hē kĕ lè (I like to drink Coke) | In this sentence the other tones are right, but the ‘kĕ’ is not correct at all | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 16 | Role play | 我喜欢喝可乐Wŏ xĭ huan hē kĕ lè (I like to drink Coke) | I think the accent ‘kĕ lè’ is wrong. The tone is wrong, ‘wŏ xĭ huan’ is okay | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 17 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (how old are you?) | This sentence is ‘nĭ duō dà’, it’s four, but he said ‘nĭ duō dă’, he used the third tone | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 17 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (how old are you?) | He should say ‘nĭ duō dà’ […] and he said ‘nĭ duō dá’ | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 17 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | He said ‘bù huĭ’ but if I said it I would say ‘bú huì’ | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 17 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 17 | Role play | 我喜欢喝茶Wŏ xĭ huan hē chá (I like to drink tea) | This sentence, how to say, he said ‘xí huan’, it’s a little difference [….] I guess he can’t understand the little difference between the second tone and the third tone | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 17 | Role play | 我喜欢喝茶Wŏ xĭ huan hē chá (I like to drink tea) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 19 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | His ‘jĭ’ the tone is wrong, and the ‘shēng rì’ he pronounced the ‘qiàoshéyīn’ (retroflex sound) very clearly, normally we wouldn’t do that | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 19 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | The pronunciation of ‘jĭ’ was in the wrong tone but apart from that it was alright | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 19 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (how old are you?) | Maybe not very […] fluent | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 19 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (how old are you?) | It’s like the pronounce of ‘duō’, particularly the ‘d’ part [….] I guess the tongue position is in the wrong place | 1 (Segmentals) |
| 19 | Role play | 我家有四口人Wŏ jiā yŏu sì kŏu rén (There are four people in my family) | I just can tell he’s a foreigner […] ‘jiā’ […] it’s not the tone, maybe the mouth | 1 (Segmentals) |
| 19 | Role play | 我家有四口人Wŏ jiā yŏu sì kŏu rén (There are four people in my family) | Very clear but not that fluent but apart from that it’s fine | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 20 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old) | The ‘shí’, the tone is a little bit wrong, ‘cos it should be the second one but he says the fourth one | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 20 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old) | For the number ten the tone is a bit wrong, it’s ‘shí suì’, he’s like ‘shī’ and it’s ‘shí’ and for the ‘suì’, ‘shī suí’, it’s ‘suì’ | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 20 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大 Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is very big) | I think this one is the pause between the words, it’s too equal, sometimes you need a longer pause to make you understand | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 20 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大 Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is very big) | For the word ‘hĕn’, the tone is wrong. It’s ‘hĕn dà’ but he speaks like ‘hēn dă’ | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 20 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (how old are you?) | The last word, the tone is wrong, he changed the fourth tone into the second | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 20 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (how old are you?) | For the word ‘dà’ the tone is wrong, it should be ‘dà’ but he said like ‘dá’ but I can understand | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
Appendix C: Coding for each of the Category 5 transcriptions (n = 82)
| Learner | Task type | Utterance | Rater’s comments (edited) | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 1 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | This word I think it’s ‘shū’ (book), actually I just give a guess [.…] I didn’t get the pronunciation at all | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 1 | Role play | 我最喜欢英文 Wŏ zuì xĭ huan yīng wén (My favourite subject is English) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 1 | Role play | 我最喜欢英文 Wŏ zuì xĭ huan yīng wén (My favourite subject is English) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 1 | Role play | 我喜欢喝咖啡Wŏ xĭ huan hē kā fēi (I like to drink coffee) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 1 | Role play | 我喜欢喝咖啡Wŏ xĭ huan hē kā fēi (I like to drink coffee) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 2 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?) | Because it is a kind of short sentence and you know there are […] four tones in Chinese so you know when he pronounces the last word ‘da’ I’m not sure whether it’s the big or other meanings. But maybe when we communicate I can guess what he means according to the conversation | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 2 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?) | It’s the wrong pinyin […] He says ‘de’ but its ‘dà’ […] but I guess | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 2 | Role play | 我十三岁 Wŏ shí sān suì (I am 13 years old) | I’m kind of sure that he said I am 13 years old so I can only give it [a rating of] three | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 2 | Role play | 我十三岁 Wŏ shí sān suì (I am 13 years old) | This one is confused because the word ‘shí’ it can be ‘shì’ but he didn’t emphasis on that one so I can’t know is that the number ten or is [….] I guess it’s not three years old | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 3 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 3 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 3 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 3 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | It’s a bit hard to understand | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 4 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 4 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | ‘Wăng’ […] the tone is not quite right but I can understand ‘qíu’ so I can understand it’s ‘wăng qiú’ | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 4 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 4 | Read aloud | 我不会游泳Wŏ bù huì yóu yŏng (I cannot swim) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 4 | Role play | 我喜欢鸡肉 Wŏ xĭ huan jī ròu (I like chicken) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 4 | Role play | 我喜欢鸡肉 Wŏ xĭ huan jī ròu (I like chicken) | A little bit confusing with the ‘jī ròu’ because ‘jī’ is pronounced a little bit weird and the tone is totally wrong but I understand ‘ròu’ so ‘jī ròu’ makes me could understand this sentence | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 5 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗？ Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 5 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗？ Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | Just need it a little time to understand it […] I think it’s just because his tone is a little different from us | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 5 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?) | It’s still the tone, I need to think a moment and then give the right answer | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 5 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 6 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old) | The problem is I think he say the sister ‘mèi mei’ yeah the tone | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 6 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 6 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | It’s not only the tone but ‘xué’ it’s the pronunciation [.…] it’s totally wrong but I can understand […] because with the word ‘shàng’ the coming word should be ‘xué’ | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 6 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | ‘Shàng xué’ he says ‘shàng shū’ and that will confuse because ‘shàng shū’ in Chinese is climbing the tree | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 6 | Role play | 我十三岁 Wŏ shí sān suì (I am 13 years old) | The problem is ‘shí’ and also the ‘suì’ […] I need to think about it because you know the ‘shí’ is very similar to ‘shì’ | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 6 | Role play | 我十三岁 Wŏ shí sān suì (I am 13 years old) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 7 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 7 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | The last word is totally can’t understand | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 7 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 7 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 8 | Role play | 我八点起床 Wŏ bā diăn qĭ chuáng (I get up at 8 o’clock) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 8 | Role play | 我八点起床 Wŏ bā diăn qĭ chuáng (I get up at 8 o’clock) | The first [time] I listened to this sentence I can’t understand this | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 9 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 9 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | I think I need to guess what the last word means [….] Yeah I think I guessed from the other words | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 9 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大 Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is very big) | I need to quite like kind of guessing | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 9 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大 Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is very big) | I think the problem is the ‘shì’ and the ‘hĕn’[…] ‘shì’ is fourth tone in Chinese […] his ‘shì’ is third tone […] ‘hĕn’ is third and his ‘hĕn’ is second | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 9 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | I think for this sentence I need to guess what he did on the Monday because if we say ‘dá wăng qiú’ that says plays tennis […] but he says ‘dă wán qiú’ maybe I will guess […] after playing tennis | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 9 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | He’s like ‘qīng qī’ so it’s like the pronunciation and also the ‘wăng qiú’ and he’s like ‘wàng qiú’, the tone and also some part of the pronunciation […] this one is quite hard to understand | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 9 | Role play | 我九点睡觉 Wŏ jiŭ diăn shuì jiào (I go to bed at 9 ’clock) | The problem is ‘jiŭ’ […] it’s quite hard to pronounce | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 9 | Role play | 我九点睡觉 Wŏ jiŭ diăn shuì jiào (I go to bed at 9 o’clock) | I think I need to guess for the second words because he said ‘jiŭ’, it’s kind of a bit similar to ‘zăo’ so maybe I will like ‘wŏ zăo diăn shuì jiào’ (I go to bed early) | 1 (Segmentals) |
| 10 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 10 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 10 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 10 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?) | There are different meanings here so I take some seconds to think about what he’s trying to say […] one of them is how old are you, the second one is your once | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 12 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | The ‘shū’ is not so clear […] the tone | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 12 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 12 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | Actually I can’t understand when he says Monday ‘xīng qī yī’ […] I guess he should have some time or something | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 12 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | If he is saying ‘xīng qī yī’ I think ‘xīng’ is not right he’s saying ‘jīng qī’ so it should be ‘xīng qī’ | 1 (Segmentals) |
| 12 | Role play | 我十点睡觉 Wŏ shí diăn shuì jiào (I go to bed at 10 o’clock) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 12 | Role play | 我十点睡觉 Wŏ shí diăn shuì jiào (I go to bed at 10 o’clock) | I don’t understand [….] the pause and the tone | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 13 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old) | At first I didn’t have any expectation what he’s going to say so I didn’t recognize ‘mèi mei’ so I tried twice | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 13 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old) | I’m not sure about the subject in this sentence, ‘méi mei’ if he pronounced as ‘mèi mei’ it should be sister ‘mèi mei’ but I can’t figure out what he’s talking [….] so most of the information is I guessed | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 14 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | In terms of comprehensibility, ‘jĭ yuè jĭ rì’ was a bit difficult for me to understand and I thought for a while, but the rest of the sentence is very comprehensible […], ‘yuè’ and ‘rì’, these two are probably quite difficult for native English speakers, ‘yuè’ and ‘rì’, it’s more about the consonants | 1 (Segmentals) |
| 14 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | The […] problem, the person is saying ‘shèn rì’ a little bit like ‘shèn’, it should be ‘shēng’ […] ‘jĭ yuè jĭ rì’ the person said ‘jī yuè jī rì’ | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 15 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | The first time I hear this it maybe has some other means because the first two words are ‘jiĕ’, if it is ‘jiĕ jie’ he says, the tone may be different with me, […] he said ‘jiĕ bú kàn shuō’ and I think it means […] ‘jiĕ jie bù găn shuō’ (older sister does not dare to speak), so I can’t difference the first meaning and the second meaning so I choose to listen twice | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 15 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | I think I found the problem for this one like there’s no tones, just the first one | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 16 | Read aloud | 我八点上学 Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | Some words she pronounced well [….] but with ‘xué’ she pronounced wrong, with the sentence I can try to guess but on its own I can’t understand | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 16 | Read aloud | 我八点上学 Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at 8 o’clock) | ‘Shàng xué’ I think ‘xué’ he said ‘shuĭ’, he said something like this ‘shuĭ’ because if you say ‘shàng shuĭ’ that means ‘cos we use solar system, and then when people say they need to put water in the solar system on the rooftop it’s ‘shàng shuĭ’. So if it’s Chinese person saying that to me, I would be thinking what do you mean, do you go to school or do you work for that but if it’s a Westerner I would think, ‘cos they don’t need to do it, especially if it’s in England, people don’t use solar systems, so it shouldn’t be this, but that’s why I had to think | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 16 | Role play | 我十四岁 Wŏ shí sì suì (I am 14 years old) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 16 | Role play | 我十四岁 Wŏ shí sì suì (I am 14 years old) | This one, if I guess, he’s trying to say ‘wŏ shí sì suì’, I’m fourteen but because there is a word ‘shì’, she could be saying ‘wŏ shì sì suì’ (I am four years old) , I don’t know, but this is not grammatically correct, in most cases it is not but there can be cases when you say like for example, when a policeman is questioning somebody, ‘are you four?’, ‘Yeah, I am four – wŏ shí sì suì, wŏ bù shì, wŏ bù shì wŭ suì’ (I am four, I am not five), but it’s kind of rare, so I would think ‘wŏ shí sì suì’ (I am 14 years old) is more common | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 16 | Role play | 我的生日是一月七日Wŏ de shēng rì shì yī yuè qī rì (My birthday is January 7th) | But it’s hard to understand, I just thought a while, I understand it all but when I first hear it, I can’t understand | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 16 | Role play | 我的生日是一月七日Wŏ de shēng rì shì yī yuè qī rì (My birthday is January 7th) | Most of the tones are not natural but then when I hear the whole sentence I can figure out what he’s saying ‘cos I guess with the same pronunciation there are not any other words which can fit into this meaning | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 17 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | I […] not immediately understand […] he said ‘gē ge bù chī róu’ | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 17 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 17 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗? Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 17 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗? Nĭ xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 18 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | The key word ‘ròu’ is not very clear […] not just the tone, the pronunciation is not very clear also | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 18 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | This one I guess [….] Wrong pronunciation about the ‘ròu’ […] so it will be confusing, maybe people will think, ‘what kind of food he doesn’t eat?’ […] he pronounced it like ‘yóu’ | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 18 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 18 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | So the ‘shēng rì’ pronunciation not very clear | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 18 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 18 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | So this one I guess […] but the key word sister should be pronounced like ‘jiĕ jie’ so the first time I couldn’t understand ‘cos he pronounced ‘jiè jie’ so the tone is different […] but after a second time I can understand and then, ‘kàn shū’ the tone is a little bit not natural but after a second time I can understand that | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 19 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 19 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | The ‘ròu’ was really not clear. I don’t think he got the right position of the tongue in the mouth and another one is the tone was a bit dodgy as well | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
| 19 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | His tones are wrong [….] This one is kind of difficult to understand because it’s a short sentence […] I don’t know the context | 2 (Suprasegmentals) |
| 19 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | He pronounces ‘jiĕ jie’ (older sister) was very weak. I wouldn’t understand it if it wasn’t in a sentence […] the pronunciation was more like ‘jay’ not ‘jie’ | 1 (Segmentals) |
| 19 | Role play | 我的生日是八月十五日 Wŏ de shēng rì shì bā yuè shí wŭ rì (My birthday is August 15th) | – | 4 (Unspecified) |
| 19 | Role play | 我的生日是八月十五日 Wŏ de shēng rì shì bā yuè shí wŭ rì (My birthday is August 15th) | A few words were like not pronounced clearly enough but altogether, it still makes sense to me […] like ‘wŏ’, ‘shēng rì’, and same thing with ‘bā’ and ‘rì’, it was not clear as we normally say it. | 3 (Segmentals and suprasegmentals) |
Appendix D: Coding for each of the Category 8 transcriptions (n = 86)
| Learner | Task type | Intended utterance | Rater’s transcription | Rater’s comments (edited) | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old) | – | – | 1. No understanding |
| 1 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁 Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is 10 years old) | 妹妹学谁？Mèi mei xué shuí? (Who is younger sister studying?) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 1 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不希望 Gē ge bù xī wàng (Older brother doesn’t hope) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 1 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不喜欢Gē ge bù xĭ huan (Older brother doesn’t like) | It’s really hard […] don’t sound like anything | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 1 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is big) | – | I didn’t hear the voice of ‘wò’ […] I just hear ‘shì’ | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 1 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is big) | 他头像很大 Tā tóu xiàng hĕn dà (His profile picture is big) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 1 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?) | – | Sorry I can’t get it | 1. No understanding |
| 1 | Read aloud | 你多大？Nĭ duō dà? (How old are you?) | 你的大 Nĭ de dà | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 1 | Role play | 我的生日是八月十五日 Wŏ de shēng rì shì bā yuè shí wŭ rì (My birthday is 15th August) | 我的中国 … Wŏ de zhōng guó …. | I can get the ‘bā yuè shí wŭ rì’ (is 15th August) but I still cannot get the ‘shēng rì’ (birthday) part | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 1 | Role play | 我的生日是八月十五日 wŏ de shēng rì shì bā yuè shí wŭ rì (My birthday is 15th August) | – | Other part sounds okay but the ‘shēng rì’ (birthday) still sounds like ‘xìng gé (character) | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 1 | Role play | 我家有四口人 Wŏ jiā yŏu sì kŏu rén (There are four people in my family) | 我脚又 Wŏ jiăo yòu | – | 1. No understanding |
| 1 | Role play | 我家有四口人 Wŏ jiā yŏu sì kŏu rén (There are four people in my family) | 我 Wŏ | ‘Wŏ, wŏ’(I, I) and then that’s all | 1. No understanding |
| 3 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不 …. Gē ge bù …. | I can’t really understand the last two words | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 3 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不虚荣 Gē ge bù xū róng (Older brother is not vain) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 3 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at eight o’clock) | 我半点想吃 Wŏ bàn diăn xiăng chī (I would like to eat at half past) | I can’t really understand although I guess | 2. Wild guess |
| 3 | Read aloud | 我八点上学Wŏ bā diăn shàng xué (I go to school at eight o’clock) | 我帮点小事 Wŏ bāng diăn xiăo shì (I help with little things) | It’s ‘bāng diăn’ (help a little) | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 3 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | 我星期一到我家 Wŏ xīng qī yī dào wŏ jiā (I arrive home on Monday) | I’m not quite sure | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 3 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | 我星期一搭火车 Wŏ xīng qī yī dā huŏ chē (I take the train on Mondays) | The first part is […] good | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 4 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 没没 … Méi méi …. | It’s very difficult to understand […] If you got ‘mèi mei’ (younger sister) I probably understand ‘shí suì’ (ten years old), yeah if I got ‘méi’ (not, not), I don’t have a clue what he’s saying | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 4 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 你没吃水 Nĭ méi chī shuĭ (You didn’t eat water) | I can only hear ‘nĭ méi’ (you didn’t) the first two characters but the last two I think it’s ‘chī shuĭ’ (eat water) but we don’t quite say that, we should say ‘hē shuĭ’ (drink water) […] I don’t understand this | 2. Wild guess |
| 4 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不 …. Gē ge bù …. | I don’t know the last two words […] I don’t think I will guess them | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 4 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不 …. Gē ge bù …. | Sorry I can’t understand the last two words | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 4 | Role play | 我喜欢果汁Wŏ xĭ huan guŏ zhī (I like fruit juice) | 我喜欢锅子Wŏ xĭ huān guō zī (I like hot pot) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 4 | Role play | 我喜欢果汁Wŏ xĭ huan guŏ zhī (I like fruit juice) | 我喜欢故事Wŏ xĭ huān gù shi (I like stories) | I can’t understand the last two words […] what I understand is ‘gù shi’ the story but the tone is a little bit annoying, I can’t quite understand this | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 5 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 你吃了没？Nĭ chī le méi (Have you eaten?) | It’s not a sentence […] I don’t think this is a sentence | 2. Wild guess |
| 5 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | – | Sorry I don’t understand […] because I don’t know what he’s talking about | 1. No understanding |
| 5 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 东东不吃肉 Dōng Dong bù chī ròu (Dōng Dong doesn’t eat meat) | After you tell me ‘gē ge’ (older brother) I think his pronunciation’s okay, I don’t know why I heard Dōng Dong) | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 5 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不喜欢Gē ge bù xĭ huan (Older brother doesn’t like) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 5 | Role play | 我家有三口人Wŏ jiā yŏu sān kŏu rén (There are three people in my family) | 我在上课Wŏ zài shàng kè (I’m having a lesson) | I think the ‘shàng kè’ (having a lesson) […] the tone is not very good but I can still understand | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 5 | Role play | 我家有三口人Wŏ jiā yŏu sān kŏu rén (There are three people in my family) | 我将要上课Wŏ jiāng yào shàng kè (I’m going to have a lesson) | If he’s talking about what I’ve written down his pronunciation and tone has problems and actually I’m not sure whether he’s talking about this | 2. Wild guess |
| 6 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥 …. Gē ge …. | I can get ‘gē ge’ (older brother) | 1. No understanding |
| 6 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不轻柔Gē ge bù qīng róu (Older brother is not gentle) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 6 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is big) | 泰迪我是衡达 Tài dí wŏ shì Héng dá (Tài dí, I’m Héng dá) | I think it may contain a name, might be, so it’s difficult to guess, ‘wŏ shì’ (I am) is fine | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 6 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is big) | 他第一,我喜欢他 Tā dì yī, wŏ xĭ huan tā (He’s number one, I like him) | Oh yeah, I guess | 2. Wild guess |
| 6 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | 你的Nĭ de | I can only hear ‘nĭ de’ | 1. No understanding |
| 6 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | 你的香味是用迪奥 Nĭ de xiāng weì shì yòng dí ào (The perfume you use is Dior) | – | 2. Wild guess |
| 6 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | 弟弟不看书 Dì dì bù kàn shū (Younger brother does not read books) | The first two word I don’t know if it’s ‘dì di’ (younger brother) or ‘jiĕ jie’ (older sister), it’s not clear | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 6 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | 弟弟不看书 Dì dì bù kàn shū (Younger brother does not read books) | 4. Context doesn’t help | |
| 6 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | 我Wŏ | I can only get ‘wŏ’, I’m sorry | 1. No understanding |
| 6 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | 我请奇异到 … 去 Wŏ qĭng Qí Yì dào …. qù | I can’t understand it | 2. Wild guess |
| 6 | Role play | 我喜欢吃鸡肉Wŏ xĭ huan chī jī ròu (I like to eat chicken) | 我喜欢Wŏ xĭ huan … | Only ‘wŏ xĭ huan’ (I like), I didn’t get it | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 6 | Role play | 我喜欢吃鸡肉Wŏ xĭ huan chī jī ròu (I like to eat chicken) | 我喜欢车酒Wŏ xĭ huān chē jiŭ (I like vehicles, alcohol) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 7 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹是 … Mèi mei shì … | The ‘shì’ tone is different | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 7 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹吃笋 Mèi mei chī sŭn (Younger sister eats bamboo shoots) | That’s all my guess | 2. Wild guess |
| 7 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is big) | 他的 …. 很大Tā de …. hĕn dà | It’s difficult for me to understand so I just guess some word | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 7 | Read aloud | 他的卧室很大Tā de wò shì hĕn dà (His bedroom is big) | – | I can’t even guess […] I want to write something. I think the last word is ‘handout’ but that’s not a Chinese word and for the first or second part, I can’t guess | 1. No understanding |
| 7 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | …. 不开心 …… bù kāi xīn | 2. Wild guess | |
| 7 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | … 不开始 …. bù kāi shĭ | Actually I can write down something but I think it’s not the correct thing she wants to say […] I give up | 2. Wild guess |
| 7 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | 我星期一 …. Wŏ xīng qī yī …. | The first half of the sentence is quite easy to understand but I can’t understand the [second] half | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 7 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | 我星期一的 …. Wŏ xīng qī yī de …. | Okay I can’t hear the last two words | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 8 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不吃鹅 Gē ge bù chī é (Older brother doesn’t eat goose) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 8 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不 … 我 Gē ge bù … wŏ | I don’t know what it means | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 8 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | 你的Nĭ de | I can’t understand | 1. No understanding |
| 8 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | 你的兄哥是 … Nĭ de xiōng gē shì … | Ah, no, this is too difficult | 1. No understanding |
| 8 | Role play | 我的生日是二月二日 Wŏ de shēng rì shì èr yuè èr rì (My birthday is 2nd February) | 我的生日是 … Wŏ de shēng rì shì …. | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 8 | Role play | 我的生日是二月二日 Wŏ de shēng rì shì èr yuè èr rì (My birthday is 2nd February) | – | Ah, I don’t know […] | 1. No understanding |
| 10 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹是谁？Mèi mei shì shuí (Who is younger sister?) | He spoke four words and the last word I guess he means who | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 10 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 秘密是谁？Mì mì shì shuí? (Who is the secret?) | It’s really hard to understand what he’s trying to say | 2. Wild guess |
| 11 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗？ Ní xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | 你是喜欢喝酒吗? Nĭ shì xĭ huan hē jiŭ ma? (Do you like to drink alcohol?) | – | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 11 | Read aloud | 你喜欢喝茶吗Ní xĭ huan hē chá ma? (Do you like to drink tea?) | 你是喜欢车吗? Nĭ shì xĭ huan chē ma? (Do you like vehicles?) | I know it’s a question […] there are two words I can’t catch them […] so I need to guess it from the context and some words | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 11 | Role play | 我的生日是六月十日 Wŏ de shēng rì shì lìu yuè shí rì (My birthday is 10th June) | 我的生日是一月十日Wŏ de shēng rì shì yī yuè shí rì (My birthday is 10th January) | It’s very difficult to understand | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 11 | Role play | 我的生日是六月十日Wŏ de shēng rì shì lìu yuè shí rì (My birthday is 10th June) | 我的 … 是要历史 … Wŏ de … shì yào lì shĭ | I can catch some words but I couldn’t understand the main sentence | 1. No understanding |
| 12 | Role play | 我十四岁Wŏ shí sì suì (I am 14 years old) | 我是谁Wŏ shì shuí (Who am I?) | – | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 12 | Role play | 我十四岁Wŏ shí sì suì (I am 14 years old) | 我是谁Wŏ shì shuí (Who am I?) | I don’t know, it sounds like he says two words in this way but I think it’s ‘wŏ shì shuí’ | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 14 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹是谁？Mèi mei shì shuí (Who is younger sister?) | ‘Shì’ (is) and ‘shuí’ (who) are pronounced very clearly | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 14 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹是谁？Mèi mei shì shuí (Who is younger sister?) | I didn’t get the ‘shí’ (ten), I thought it was ‘shì’ (is) | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 16 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹四岁Mèi mei sì suì (Younger sister is four years old) | This is difficult even for Chinese, actually I heard he said ‘shí’ (ten) but in my imagined the foreigner always says ‘sì’ (four) not ‘shí’ (ten) so I guessed maybe he says ‘sì’ (four) | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 16 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹 …. Mèi mei … | I don’t understand | 1. No understanding |
| 16 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | 你的生日是七月七日? Nĭ de shēng rì shì qī yuè qī rì? (Your birthday is 7th July) | ‘Qī’ (Seven) is hard to understand, I don’t know if it’s right | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 16 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | 你的生日是七月七日 Nĭ de shēng rì shì qī yuè qī rì (Your birthday is 7th July) | I think his tone is more like ‘jĭ yuè jĭ rì’ (which date), but his pronunciation is more like ‘qī yuè qī rì’ (7th July), so he’s basically saying ‘qĭ yuè qĭ rì’ so intuitively I just think, oh maybe I’ll go with his pronunciation rather than tone | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 17 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | 你的生日是七月七日 Nĭ de shēng rì shì qī yuè qī rì (Your birthday is 7th July) | Actually I cannot totally understand […] I’m not sure about this word ‘shēng rì’ (birthday) and the date, so I guess he said this but I’m not sure | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 17 | Read aloud | 你的生日是几月几日？Nĭ de shēng rì shì jĭ yuè jĭ rì? (When’s your birthday?) | 你的Nĭ de | Oh I failed this one | 1. No understanding |
| 17 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (older sister does not read books) | 姐姐Jiĕ jie | I guess he wanted to say the word ‘jiĕ jie’ (older sister) but I’m not sure | 1. No understanding |
| 17 | Read aloud | 姐姐不看书 Jiĕ jie bù kàn shū (Older sister does not read books) | 谢谢, 不客气 Xiè xie, bú kè qì (Thanks, my pleasure) | ‘Bú kàn shū’ (doesn’t read books), it’s quite, quite different | 2. Wild guess |
| 17 | Role play | 我十二点起床Wŏ shí èr diăn qĭ chuáng (I get up at 12 o’clock) | 我是二年级学生Wŏ shì èr nián jí xué shēng (I am a second year student) | I can guess what he said […] but I didn’t hear the word ‘shēng’ | 2. Wild guess |
| 17 | Role play | 我十二点起床Wŏ shí èr diăn qĭ chuáng (I get up at 12 o’clock) | 我是Wŏ shì | Wŏ shì (I am) […] I can’t understand it | 1. No understanding |
| 17 | Role play | 我十二点睡觉Wŏ shí èr diăn shuì jiào (I go to bed at 12 o’clock) | 我是Wŏ shì | I thought he said ‘shì’ (am) | 1. No understanding |
| 17 | Role play | 我十二点睡觉Wŏ shí èr diăn shuì jiào (I go to bed at 12 o’clock) | 我是Wŏ shì | – | 1. No understanding |
| 18 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 你们是谁？Nĭ men shì shuí? (Who are you?) | – | 1. No understanding |
| 18 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 你 … 是谁？Nĭ …. shì shuí? | So the ‘shì shuí’ (is who) I can understand totally, but I’m not sure if he’s talking about you guys ‘nĭ men’ or the name is ‘nĭ mèi’ | 1. No understanding |
| 18 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | 我想吃你的黄橙 Wŏ xiăng chī nĭ de huáng chéng (I would like to eat your yellow orange) | ‘Huáng chéng’ (yellow orange) […] I know maybe it’s the wrong word | 2. Wild guess |
| 18 | Read aloud | 我星期一打网球 Wŏ xīng qī yī dă wăng qiú (I play tennis on Mondays) | 我擅长于打网球 Wŏ shàn cháng yú dă wăng qiú (I’m good at playing tennis) | He got the key words so I guess | 4. Context doesn’t help |
| 19 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹是谁？Mèi mei shì shuí (Who is younger sister?) | Yeah he said ‘shì’ (is) I think | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 19 | Read aloud | 妹妹十岁Mèi mei shí suì (Younger sister is ten years old) | 妹妹是谁？Mèi mei shì shuí (Who is younger sister?) | Cos ‘shí’ and ‘shì’ is really similar | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 20 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 哥哥不是柔 Gē ge bù shì róu (Older brother isn’t flexible) | It’s the problem about ‘shì’ (is) and ‘chī’ (to eat) | 3. Mistaken keyword |
| 20 | Read aloud | 哥哥不吃肉 Gē ge bù chī ròu (Older brother doesn’t eat meat) | 这是不是肉Zhè shì bú shì ròu (Is this meat?) | It’s quite difficult […] I can only guess, I don’t know what he said | 2. Wild guess |
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© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Papers in English
- A two-case study on CSL learners’ agency in classroom settings from the perspective of language socialization
- Chinese literacy learning by immigrant learners
- How do L1 Chinese raters process the L2 Chinese speech signal at the sentence level with respect to accentedness, comprehensibility and intelligibility?
- Papers in Chinese
- 礼貌驱动的汉语道义情态表达
- 现代汉语的主观量标记 “基本”
- 情态动词 “可以” 的语法教学
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Papers in English
- A two-case study on CSL learners’ agency in classroom settings from the perspective of language socialization
- Chinese literacy learning by immigrant learners
- How do L1 Chinese raters process the L2 Chinese speech signal at the sentence level with respect to accentedness, comprehensibility and intelligibility?
- Papers in Chinese
- 礼貌驱动的汉语道义情态表达
- 现代汉语的主观量标记 “基本”
- 情态动词 “可以” 的语法教学
