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

据估计，世界上一半以上的人口经常说一种以上语言，大约13%(约10亿人)会说三种或三种以上语言(Grosjean，2010)。到目前为止，对多种语言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(怪异)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种人群，以更好地了解人类行为的完全多样性。在这里，我考虑一下中国西南城市重庆的第三语言习得的背景。重庆是大陆一个拥有3200万多人口的大城市。中国(重庆市人口局，2021年)。大多数重庆人把重庆话作为第一语言(L1)，把普通话作为第二语言(L2)。他们通常在中学开始有系统地学习英语作为他们的第三语言(L3)。在中国，人们使用当地语言(称为方言)、标准普通话，然后将英语作为第三语言学习，这是非常普遍的。了解汉语方言对英语习得的影响是至关重要的。例如，2020/21年度有143,820名中国学生在英国(英国大学，2022)，其中许多人将英语作为他们的第三语言学习。现在公认的知识是，熟练的双语者会发展两个独立的、但相互作用的声音系统。然而，对于三语语音的习得，我们所知的要少得多。由于与多种语言接触产生的复杂来源，第三语言的言语产生和感知与第二语言有很大的不同。以往的音系学研究表明，二语迁移主要局限于三语学习的最开始阶段(Gut，2010；Wrambel等，2019)。然而，以前的研究主要集中在欧洲语言上，而没有考虑汉语普通话的方言。在这里，我们关注的是重庆方言的母语使用者，这里的[n]和[L]之间没有对比。/n/和/L/之间缺乏区别是西南普通话的一个众所周知的非标准特征，显然是从说话人的母语中移植而来的(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会转移到L3英语语音上。我的博士项目将研究重庆方言(L1)中[L]和[n]的合并将如何影响标准普通话(L2)和英语(L3)语音系统。其次，它将讨论社会和语言因素(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两个辅音的产生。第三，旨在为二语习得中的语言交互效应理论做出贡献。这项研究建立在我的MA研究的基础上，我将调查说L1重庆方言的人在L2普通话和L3英语中能够感知/L/和/n/的程度。

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.