Doctoral Dissertation Research: the Acquisition of Tone in a Second Language

在过去的几十年里，很多研究都致力于研究学习母语以外的其他语言的挑战和成功。然而，这一研究机构只关注少数几种著名的印欧语言和东亚语言，这些语言在全球67000种语言中所占比例不到1%。其结果是，人们对许多语言特征的习得知之甚少。其中一个特征就是音调，即利用音高来区分单词。考虑到世界上一半以上的语言都是声调语言，这种差距尤其令人遗憾，而且声调语言的第二语言使用者的数量正在增加，无论是在美国（例如，随着越来越多的人选择学习普通话），还是在世界范围内，这往往是由于声调语言大量存在的地区的语言复兴努力。在这两种情况下，说第二语言的人往往很难产生和感知音调，即使他们在其他方面被认为是熟练的语言使用者。为了揭示声调习得过程中的差异和困难，需要进行新的研究。本论文以个案研究为基础，探讨了华雷斯萨波特克语（Sierra Juarez Zapotec）在青少年学习中的语调习得。华雷斯萨波特克语是墨西哥瓦哈卡州San Pablo Macuiltianguis地区的一种濒危语言。学习者以西班牙语为母语，通过语言振兴计划学习萨波特克语作为第二语言。六个月的视频和音频记录的萨波特克课堂数据将被转录和分析，以检查随着时间的推移音调学习。这种方法可以对当前的第二语言习得理论进行评估。特别是，该研究测试了第二语言习得的频率驱动理论：学习者接触语言特征的频率越高，该特征就越容易学习。它还探讨了在声调学习中调解这种频率效应的因素。

Much research over the past several decades has been dedicated to studying the challenges and successes of learning an additional language beyond one's native tongue. However, this body of research has focused on just a handful of well-known Indo-European and East Asian languages, which account for less than 1% of the world's 6-7,000 languages. A consequence is that little is known about the acquisition of many linguistic features. One such feature is tone, the use of pitch to distinguish words. This gap is especially unfortunate given that over half of the world's languages are tone languages, and that second language speakers of tone languages are increasing in number, both in the U.S. (as more people choose to study Mandarin Chinese, for instance) and worldwide, often due to language revitalization efforts in parts of the world where tone languages abound. In both contexts, second language speakers often struggle to produce and perceive tone, even when they are otherwise considered to be competent speakers of the language. New research is needed in order to uncover the differences and difficulties involved in acquiring tones. As a case study, this dissertation examines the acquisition of tone among adolescents learning Sierra Juarez Zapotec, an endangered language traditionally spoken in San Pablo Macuiltianguis (Oaxaca, Mexico). The learners are native Spanish speakers studying Zapotec as a second language through a language revitalization program. Six months of video and audio-recorded Zapotec classroom data will be transcribed and analyzed in order to examine tone learning over time. This approach allows current theories of second language acquisition to be evaluated. In particular, the study tests a frequency-driven theory of second language acquisition: the claim that the more frequently a learner is exposed to a linguistic feature, the easier that feature will be to learn. It also explores factors that mediate this frequency effect when it comes to tone learning.