Development of a script of phonemically balanced monosyllable lists of Mandarin-Chinese

Objectives To develop a set of monosyllable audiometry test material that can be used in speech recognition testing in Mandarin Chinese. Materials and Methods In an effort to improve reliability and efficiency in clinical practice, a set of 30 test lists of 25 monosyllable test items each was designed with consideration of the following: length of the list, phonemical balance (PB), word utility frequency, coverage of common words, and equivalency among lists. The 30 lists contained 750 monosyllabic words and were constructed on the basis of Chinese phoneme distribution probability summarized in the Manual of Acoustic. The occurrence incidence of the 22 consonants, 36 vowels, and 4 tones of the Chinese Mandarin characters in the 30 test lists were calculated. To achieve PB, 489 monosyllables were selected from the 2500 most commonly used Chinese characters and the 4000 most commonly used Chinese phrases to compile the 30 monosyllable test lists using a computer algorithm with manual adjustment. Results Thirty phonemical balanced word lists of common Mandarin Chinese monosyllabic words were compiled. Each list consisted of 25 monosyllables. A total of 489 phonemes (consonants, vowels and tones) were included in the set. Conclusions This set of lists can potentially be used as the basic lists for future development of Mandarin PB monosyllable speech test materials.

Using Technology-Supported Enrichment Activities to Extend Student Learning in a Chinese as a Foreign Language

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether exposing middle school students to content above their ability level produced significant differences in students’confidence in their Chinese as a foreign language competence in each of the following four areas:reading,listening,speaking,and learning vocabulary.Participants(N=30)were sixth and seventh graders.Results of paired t-test analyses indicated that there was no significant difference in student confidence in Chinese reading competence,t(30)=0.78,p=0.22;in Chinese speaking competence,t(30)=-0.50,p=0.31;or to learn Chinese vocabulary,t(30)=-0.80,p=0.21.However,there was a significant difference in student confidence in ability to learn Chinese listening,t(30)=-1.78,p<0.05.It is suggested that exposing students to content well above their ability level can increase their confidence in ability to learn Chinese listening.

Speech perception in noise:Masking and unmasking

Speech perception is essential for daily communication.Background noise or concurrent talkers,on the other hand,can make it challenging for listeners to track the target speech(i.e.,cocktail party problem).The present study reviews and compares existing findings on speech perception and unmasking in cocktail party listening environments in English and Mandarin Chinese.The review starts with an introduction section followed by related concepts of auditory masking.The next two sections review factors that release speech perception from masking in English and Mandarin Chinese,respectively.The last section presents an overall summary of the findings with comparisons between the two languages.Future research directions with respect to the difference in literature on the reviewed topic between the two languages are also discussed.