This study investigates the relationship between perception and production of Japanese vowels by Mandarin Chinese learning Japanese. Identification and production tests on Japanese long and short vowels in word final position were respectively carried out. The results showed that the length of vowels produced by some learners corresponded with perceptional boundaries of long and short vowels. Evaluation of their pronunciations performed by Japanese native speakers indicated that the subjects whose vowel length control responded with their perceptional boundaries acquired better assessment than the others. These findings suggest that proficient speakers must both perceive and produce long and short vowels accurately.
