Perception of a phoneme contrast in Singaporean English-Mandarin bilingual adults: a preregistered study of individual differences

Abstract

While the Mandarin alveolar-retroflex phoneme contrast has been extensively studied in Beijing and Taiwan Mandarin, little analysis exists for the Singapore variety of Mandarin. In this study, we explore in detail how English-Mandarin bilinguals resolve ambiguity for words that differ in the voiceless alveolar-retroflex affricate contrast in Singapore Mandarin. We created a 2-alternative-forced-choice (2AFC) lexical identity task with a novel set of stimuli consisting of an 8-step alveolar-retroflex [tsʰuə́n]-[ʈʂʰuə́n] continuum, synthesized from speech of a Singapore Mandarin speaker. The preregistered study will recruit between 34 and 111 participants, with a Bayesian optimal stopping rule. To date, 6 participants have completed the procedure. Our initial results show a wide range of individual variation in identification of words starting with [tsʰ] and [ʈʂʰ]: One participant shows no systematic differentiation between the two words, while others show steep categorical decision gradients. In accordance with our preregistered analysis plan, the full sample will allow us to evaluate whether bilinguals’ self-reported proficiency in Mandarin predicts their performance on the lexical identification task. Recruitment is projected to conclude in March 2022, prior to the CogSci conference.