Implicit learning of tonal rules in Thai as a second language

Abstract

Implicit learning is the learning of underlying regularities hidden in the

environment without the learner being conscious of what is being learnt.

First language acquisition in young children is essentially implicit

(Krashen, 1982), but the role of implicit learning in second language

acquisition is debatable.

Previous research on learning of tonal languages focused on perception

and identification of language tones in relatively explicit settings, and

showed that tonal language experience may not help with learning a new

tonal language in an explicit setting (So & Best, 2010; Wang, 2006). Yet,

little research was done on the implicit learning of language tones, and on

whether prior tonal language experience plays a role in such implicit

learning.

In this study, simplified Thai tonal rules were used as a learning target to

investigate if implicit learning of such rules is possible. Implicit learning

performance among native tonal language speakers with no knowledge of

Thai, non?tonal language native speakers who have learnt/have been

learning tonal languages other than Thai, and non?tonal language

speakers with little knowledge of tonal languages were compared.

Results showed that the native tonal language group implicitly learnt the

target, and some trends of learning were found in the tonal language

learner group, but not in the tonal language na?ve group. This advantage

of tonal language experience over the learning of tonal patterns suggested

that tonal language experience can be transferable to the learning of a new

tonal language in implicit settings. This suggested that, rather than being

hindered by their prior linguistic experience, learners with some tonal

language background may benefit from implicit settings when learning a

new tonal language.