Thai tone discrimination by English and Cantonese listeners: Differential sensitivity but largely the same acoustic cues

Abstract

<p>First language (L1) background influences non-native tone perception. This study investigated how L1 background shapes (i) perceptual sensitivity and (ii) the choice of acoustic cues for non-native tone discrimination. Cantonese and English listeners completed a Thai tone AX discrimination task. Firstly, the Cantonese outperformed the English listeners on discriminating all tone contrasts except T4-T5. Secondly, acoustic-behavioural correlational analysis showed that both groups attended to pitch contour most heavily. Moreover, only the English listeners attended to pitch onset and neither group attended to pitch height. Based on the results, tone language experience largely benefits non-native tone discrimination. Inconsistent with previous studies, our Cantonese and English listeners utilize largely similar acoustic cues for Thai tone discrimination. It is possible that the intrinsic acoustic properties of the tonal system in question determine the acoustic cues participants use for tone discrimination.</p>