Development of Perceptual Training Software for Realizing High Variability Training Paradigm and Self Adaptive Training Paradigm

Development of Perceptual Training Software for Realizing High Variability Training Paradigm and Self Adaptive Training Paradigm Ruining Yang Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies Kyoto University yang.ruining.48z@ st.kyoto-u.ac.jp Hiroaki Nanjo Academic Center for Computing and Media Study Kyoto University nanjo@media. kyoto-u.ac.jp Masatake Dantsuji Academic Center for Computing and Media Study Kyoto University mdantsuji@media. kyoto-u.ac.jp Abstract The paper describes a development of percep- tual training software which realizes a percep- tual training paradigm to aid Japanese Man- darin Chinese learners with identifying nasal codas “-n” and “-ng”. This training paradigm is novel from the viewpoint that it retains the primary advantages of High Variability Train- ing Paradigm (HVTP) while adding a Self- Adaptive Training Paradigm (SATP), which can measure items that users are not good at and form personalized training for each user. Our developed educational software is based on the blend of the two training paradigms. The development of the pedagogical software with novel training paradigm is promising for a contribution of bridging the gap between re- search and practice in second language pho- netic training. 1 Introduction It is difficult for second language (L2) learners to perceive and pronounce non-native speech sounds. Plenty of studies have proven this phenomenon. For example, Miyawaki et al. (1975) indicate that it is challenging for Japanese listeners (Japanese na- tive speakers who learn other languages) to iden- tify alveolar approximate / r / and lateral approx- imate / l / in English. Nasal codas “-n” and “- ng” in Mandarin Chinese is also one of the most difficult phonetic contrasts for Japanese listeners to distinguish (Wang, 2002). Even in cases in which the duration of the study was extended, learners did not make considerable improvement in percep- tion (Yang et al., 2016). Previous researches on nasal codas of Mandarin Chinese usually focus on the acoustic characteristics and error patterns pre- sented by learners. A practical method to help Japanese listeners to establish the perceptual cate- gory for nasal codas is rarely mentioned. The SLM (Speech Learning Model) posits that development of accurate information about the pho- netic properties of L2 speech sounds and the estab- lishment of the phonetic categories requires a sub- stantial amount of input (Flege, 2003). Learners liv- ing in the target language country have numerous opportunities to immerse in a native language en- vironment, while it is difficult for learners who are learning foreign languages in their home country to obtain a significant amount of input. With the de- velopment of CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) and ICT (Information and Communica- tion Technology), more and more solutions to this issue have been proposed (Danstuji and Tsubota, 2005). With regard to L2 perceptual training, a High Variability Training Paradigm (HVTP) is widely ap- plied to help learners to identify L2 confusing con- trasts. No matter in segmental features or supraseg- mental features, the effectiveness of the training has been observed via vast experiments. However, Perrachione (2011) indicates that HVTP enhanced learning only for individuals with strong pretraining aptitude, and for …

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