Investigating Phonological Development in L2 and L3 Among Mandarin Speakers in Hong Kong: A Case Study

This study aims to determine how Mandarin speakers (MS) in Hong Kong (HK) acquire English (L2) and Cantonese (L3) pronunciation features, how the three languages interact in their language learning process, and to identify the pronunciation-related adjustment approaches that MSs use to overcome L2 and L3 pronunciation challenges. Five MSs in HK who had learned L2 for around 15 years were recruited. Three of them were at the intermediate stage of L3 learning and had learned L3 for 4 years. Two participants were at the beginning stage of L3 learning and had learned L3 for less than 6 months. All participants performed Mandarin, English, and Cantonese speech tasks and answered a questionnaire investigating MSs’ L2 and L3 pronunciation-related adjustment strategies and language learning experience. Acoustic results of the speech tasks identified cross-linguistic influence patterns from their first language (L1) to L3, from L2 to L3, and from L1 to L2 and then to L3. L3 beginners reported that they frequently used L2 sounds to learn L3 instead of using L1. However, MSs whose L3 was at the intermediate stage did not use their L1 or L2 features to learn L3, except for Cantonese tones. For the pronunciation-related adjustment strategies, the L3 beginners tended to rely on the assistance of other languages when communicating with HK Cantonese speakers using their L2 and L3. But the MSs who were at the intermediate stage of L3 learning rarely used other languages or code-mixing and tended to adjust their own speech (e.g., reducing accents, utilizing repetition, and embedding pausing).