Phonetics and phonology in third language acquisition: Discrimination of consonants in Chongqing Dialect, Standard Mandarin, and English

据估计，世界上超过一半的人口经常说一种以上的语言，大约13%（约10亿人）说三种或三种以上的语言（格罗斯让，2010）。到目前为止，对多语言使用的语言学分析主要集中在西方、受过教育的、工业的、富裕的和民主的（WEIRD）国家，主要研究印欧语言（Liu & Lin,2021; Rocha-Hidalgo & Barr, 2022）。由于现有研究中的这种偏见，有必要将知识扩展到不同的多语言人群，以更好地了解人类行为的全部多样性。在这里，我考虑在中国西南重庆的第三语言习得的背景。大多数重庆人以重庆话为第一语言（L1），标准普通话为第二语言（L2）。他们通常在中学开始系统地学习英语作为第三语言（L3）。在中国，人们使用当地语言（称为“方言”），标准普通话，然后作为L3学习英语是非常普遍的。了解汉语方言使用者对英语习得的影响是至关重要的。例如，在2020/21学年，英国有143820名中国学生（Universities UK, 2022），其中许多人将英语作为他们的L3。现在公认的知识是，熟练的双语者发展了两个独立但相互作用的声音系统。然而，我们对L3声音的习得知之甚少。L3语言的产生和感知与L2有很大的不同，因为与多种语言接触导致了复杂的来源。以往的音韵学研究表明，二语迁移主要局限于三语学习的最初阶段（Gut, 2010; Wrembel et al., 2019）。然而，之前的研究主要集中在欧洲语言上，并没有考虑到普通话的方言。在这里，我们关注的是重庆方言的母语使用者，其中[n]和[l]之间没有对比。/n/和/l/之间缺乏差异是西南普通话的一个众所周知的非标准特征，显然是从说话者的母语转移过来的（Zhang & Levis, 2021）。我的项目将确定/l/和/n/之间的混淆在多大程度上也转移到L3英语语音。我的博士项目将研究重庆方言（L1）中的[l]和[n]合并如何影响标准普通话（L2）和英语（L3）的发音系统。其次，它将讨论社会和语言因素（例如第二语言地位，第三语言经验，熟练程度）和区分这两个辅音的感知能力在多大程度上影响标准普通话和英语中这些辅音的产生。第三，旨在为外语习得中语言互动效应的理论研究做出贡献。这项研究建立在我的硕士研究的基础上，在那里我将调查重庆方言的人在多大程度上可以感知L2标准普通话和L3英语中的/l/和/n/。

It is estimated that over half the world's population speaks more than one language regularly, withapproximately 13% (~1 billion people) speaking three or more languages (Grosjean, 2010). Linguisticanalyses of multilingualism have, so far, largely focused on western, educated, industrial, rich anddemocratic (WEIRD) countries, and have primarily investigated Indo-European languages (Liu & Lin,2021; Rocha-Hidalgo & Barr, 2022). Due to this bias in the existing research, it is essential to expandknowledge to different multilingual populations to gain a better understanding about the full diversity ofhuman behaviour. Here, I consider the context of third language acquisition in Chongqing, south-westChina.Chongqing is a large city of more than thirty-two million people in mainland China (ChongqingPopulation Bureau, 2021). Most Chongqing people speak Chongqing Dialect as their first language (L1)and Standard Mandarin as their second language (L2). They usually begin to learn English systematicallyas their third language (L3) in secondary school. It is extremely common in China for people to use alocal language (referred to as a 'dialect'), Standard Mandarin, and then learn English as an L3. It is crucialto understand the influences on the acquisition of English by Chinese dialect speakers. For example, in2020/21 there were 143,820 Chinese students in the UK (Universities UK, 2022), many of whom learntEnglish as their L3.It is now accepted knowledge that proficient bilinguals develop two separate, but interacting, soundsystems. However, much less is known about the acquisition of L3 sounds. L3 speech production andperception broadly differ from L2 because of the complicated sources resulting from contact withmultiple languages. Previous phonological studies suggest that L2 transfer is mainly restricted to thevery beginning stage of L3 learning (Gut, 2010; Wrembel et al., 2019). However, previous work isconcentrated on European languages and has not considered dialects of Mandarin Chinese. Here, we focus on L1 speakers of the Chongqing dialect, where there is no contrast between [n] and [l].A lack of difference between /n/ and /l/ is a well-known non-standard feature of the SouthwesternMandarin, apparently transferred from speakers' L1 (Zhang & Levis, 2021). My project will ascertain theextent to which confusion between /l/ and /n/ also transfers to L3 English phonetics.Project OverviewMy PhD project will investigate how the [l] and [n] merger in Chongqing Dialect (L1) will influenceStandard Mandarin (L2) and English (L3) sound systems. Secondly, it will discuss the extent to whichsocial and linguistic factors (e.g. L2 status, L3 experience, the level of proficiency) and perceptionabilities in discriminating these two consonants influences production of these consonants in StandardMandarin and English. Thirdly, it aims to contribute to theories of language interaction effects in L3acquisition. This study builds on my MA research, where I will investigate the extent to which L1Chongqing dialect speakers can perceive /l/ and /n/ in L2 Standard Mandarin and L3 English.