The current study investigated the facilitatory effects of High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) in second language (L2) categorical perception (CP) of Mandarin lexical tones. It also explored whether and how individual differences in auditory processing predicted gains from such training. The participants were 32 native English-speaking adults aged over 60 years who were learning Mandarin Chinese as their L2. They were randomly divided into the HVPT group (HG) ( n = 16) and the control group (CG) ( n = 16). Their L2 CP performance was assessed through an identification task and discrimination task before training, immediately after training, and two months later. Auditory processing tests were also conducted to measure the participants’ ability to encode spectral and temporal details of sounds. Linear mixed-effects (LME) models showed that, compared to the CG, the HG exhibited a more pronounced improvement in tonal categorization. Furthermore, regression analysis confirmed that individual differences in perceptual acuity significantly predicted gains from training in L2 CP of Mandarin lexical tones.

中文翻译：

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高变异性语音训练有助于二语老年人对普通话词汇声调的分类感知：与听觉处理的联系


本研究调查了高变异性语音训练 (HVPT) 对普通话词汇声调的第二语言 (L2) 分类感知 (CP) 的促进作用。它还探讨了听觉处理中的个体差异是否以及如何预测此类训练的收益。参与者是 32 名 60 岁以上以英语为母语的成年人，他们正在学习普通话作为第二语言。他们被随机分为 HVPT 组 (HG) ( n = 16) 和对照组 (CG) ( n = 16)。他们的 L2 CP 表现通过训练前、训练后和两个月后的识别任务和辨别任务进行评估。还进行了听觉处理测试，以测量参与者对声音的频谱和时间细节进行编码的能力。线性混合效应 (LME) 模型表明，与 CG 相比，HG 在音调分类方面表现出更明显的改进。此外，回归分析证实，感知敏锐度的个体差异可以显着预测普通话声调的 L2 CP 训练的收益。