{"product_id":"intelligibility-tones-and-young-beginner-learners-of-mandarin-chinese-1","title":"Intelligibility, Tones and Young Beginner Learners of Mandarin Chinese","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwo decades ago, Mandarin Chinese seemed set to become a mainstream school subject in Anglophone settings. Yet current learning outcomes are generally disappointing. Is Chinese too difficult for learners at this level? Should it be left to the posh kids with pushy parents?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet within the context of teaching and learning Chinese at an inner-city secondary school in the North of England, and adopting a case study research design, this book aims to develop research-informed insights into the nature of the pronunciation challenges facing beginner learners of Chinese.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile existing research has shown that producing native-like tones is difficult for Anglophone learners, the question of how important tones are for intelligibility has been largely ignored. Do heavily accented tones actually matter? Which specific areas of the learners’ speech signal mislead their listeners? How aware are learners of their own pronunciation errors?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTeachers of Chinese may not be able to solve entrenched geopolitical tensions, but we can lay the foundations for a stronger engagement with China through excellent teaching. However, before authoritative pedagogical interventions can be made, far more understanding is required of not only how adolescent beginners learn Chinese in school settings, but also what can be realistically expected of them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Taylor \u0026 Francis Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Product","offer_id":57427806093656,"sku":"9781032169859","price":56.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/intelligibility-tones-and-young-beginner-learners-of-mandarin-chinese-1","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}