University of New Hampshire
McNair Scholar, 2024
Major: Linguistics and Spanish
Mentor: Dr. Casey Roark
Research Title: Eye-Smart vs. Traditional: Comparative Research on Tonal Teaching Methods for Mandarin Chinese in Young Adult Native English Speakers
Abstract:
Students with no background in Mandarin Chinese (Group A) will learn the four Mandarin tonal categories incidentally by hearing recordings of tones, and then trying to predict the location of the visual target on a screen that is divided into four quadrants. Unknown to participants, the auditory input will predict the location of the visual target. To measure the total number of fixations, the participants' eyes will be tracked with an eye tracking software, as well as asked to click the visual target with a mouse, which will serve as an indirect measure of incidental learning as researchers will compare the total number of fixations and the number of correct fixations per session. As sessions increase, it is expected that the number of correct fixations will increase. Finally, both Group A and Group B (which will consist of students with intermediate to advanced knowledge of Mandarin), will complete a post-test, in which participants will identify where the target should appear. In Group A, the number of correct fixations during incidental learning sessions should be associated with better performance in the post-test, which will be compared to the success of Group B. To connect this to traditional teaching processes, UNH Mandarin faculty will be interviewed to compare the success of traditional approaches to teaching tonal languages. Although there are few similar studies, positive results in favor of incidental tonal language learning have been found. Hopefully, this research will deepen the understanding of language acquisition in young adult learners in hopes of increasing interest in the pursuit of Mandarin as a secondary language.
