Does tonal L2 learning influence early-stage L3/Ln tone perception by altering cue weighting?

Abstract

Learning a second language (L2) influences speech perception in a third or additional language (L3/Ln) at an early stage. However, the mechanism underlying this influence remains unclear. Our study aimed to address this gap in the context of tone. Specifically, L1-Urdu/Hindi speakers with varying degrees of L2 Cantonese proficiency completed a novel tone identification task, two ABX novel tone discrimination tasks and the Cantonese elicited imitation task. The results showed that (i) L2 Cantonese proficiency positively correlated with novel tone perception across the three tone perception tasks; (ii) no evidence indicated that L2 proficiency influenced the weighting of pitch cues in either ABX task. However, the weighting of pitch cues differed between the two tasks. We suggest that tonal L2 learning influences early-stage L3/Ln tone perception, but no evidence suggests this effect stems from shifts in cue weighting. Furthermore, cognitive load does not modulate the effect of tonal L2 learning on early-stage L3/Ln tone perception; however, it directly alters the weighting of pitch cues.