Abstract
This study investigated the extent to which Japanese learners of English (JLEs) correctly perceived English intonation patterns and whether training could improve their performance. Additionally, we explored the influence of an acoustic durational cue on learners’ perception errors, especially for a rising contour. Experiment 1 expanded upon our previous study (Akatsuka et al., 2018). In this experiment, JLEs completed forced-choice intonation identification tests of three intonation contours (falling, rising, and falling-rising) before and after training sessions. The results revealed that falling tones were the easiest for JLEs to perceive correctly, followed by rising tones and then falling-rising tones. We confirmed a significant improvement between the pre- and post-tests for falling and falling-rising tones, but not for rising tones. Participants’ errors in identifying intonation patterns indicated confusion between rising and falling-rising tones. Experiment 2 compared JLEs’ perceptions of these three intonation patterns with corresponding perceptions among native speakers of English (NSs). This experiment also explored durational cues’ effects on listeners’ perception errors. Although NSs perceived the three intonation patterns similarly, JLEs exhibited significant differences in their perceptions, with persistent difficulty perceiving rising tones. Durational cues’ effects on perceiving rising tones were insignificant for both JLEs and NSs.
