A study of sentence stress production in Mandarin speakers of American English

Acoustic characteristics of American English sentence stress produced by na tive Mandarin speakers are reported. Fundamental frequency (F-0), vowel dur ation, and vowel intensity in the sentence-level stress produced by 40 Mand arin speakers were compared to those of 40 American English speakers. Resul ts obtained from two methods of stress calculation indicated that Mandarin speakers of American English are able to differentiate stressed and unstres sed words according to features of F-0, duration, and intensity. Although t he group of Mandarin speakers were able to signal stress in their sentence productions, the acoustic characteristics of stress were not identical to t he American speakers. Mandarin speakers were found to produce stressed word s with a significantly higher F-0 and shorter duration compared to the Amer ican speakers. The groups also differed in production of unstressed words w ith Mandarin speakers using a higher F-0 and greater intensity compared to American speakers. Although the acoustic differences observed may reflect a n interference of L1 Mandarin in the production of L2 American English, the outcome of this study suggests no critical divergence between these speake rs in the way they implement American English sentence stress. (C) 2001 Aco ustical Society of America.