1. Introduction

These chapters discussed the challenges faced by Chinese ESL learners in perceiving and producing native-like English word stress, particularly due to the interference of their first language, Chinese, which lacks lexical stress and has a tonal system. They also highlighted the asymmetry in perception and production of English word stress, as learners from stress-timed languages had different issues than those from languages with predictable stress patterns. The chapter also categorized English lexical stress patterns based on syllabic structure, lexical class, and phonological similarity, exploring the impact of these factors on stress placement by Chinese ESL learners. Overall, it was found that Chinese learners' difficulties in stress assignment were influenced by lexical class and phonologically similar words, but were less affected by syllabic structure.

2. Methods

Ninety Chinese ESL learners aged 20 to 25 were involved in the study and completed a production task and two perception tasks. Test words were uncommon English words selected based on 26 stress patterns for three categories: syllabic structure, phonological similarity, and vowel reduction. In the production task, participants read aloud each of the 52 test words once in a sentence frame. In the first perception task, participants identified the syllable that carried the primary stress after listening to a native speaker’s reading of each test word. In the second perception task, participants determined whether the vowel in each test word’s target syllable was reduced.

3. Results

This chapter describes the results of the study on the production and perception of word stress and vowel reduction by Chinese ESL learners. The general accuracy rates for both production and perception of word stress and vowel reduction were calculated, and significant differences were found between perception and production. Correlation tests showed a positive but weak correlation between the accuracy rate for production and perception for the different categories. The degree of symmetry and asymmetry between production and perception was analyzed, and it was found that in some cases, perception of word stress and vowel reduction outperformed production, while in others, production was more accurate. Symmetry and asymmetry rates were computed for each word pattern in the three categories, and the results were presented in bar charts. The analysis showed that perception of word stress and vowel reduction was generally better than production, with some exceptions.

4. Discussion

The discussion chapter discusses the asymmetrical relation between the production and perception of English word stress. Perception of word stress/vowel reduction for the 52 test words was generally better than production. The comparative status of English word stress production and perception varied across the 26 stress patterns investigated, and it can be impacted by a difference in stress patterns. For the 12 stress patterns in the “phonological similarity” category, production and perception were relatively more symmetrical for some patterns, while for others, production and perception were less symmetrical. The difference in target vowels and stress patterns also influenced the symmetry. The perception of word stress/vowel reduction in the stress patterns is stronger than production when the symmetrical relationship between them is weaker and vice versa.

5. Conclusion

This chapter discusses the relationship between English word stress production and perception, and how differences in stress patterns of syllabic structure, phonological similarity, and vowel reduction impact this relationship for Chinese ESL learners. It is found that perception accuracy is generally higher than production accuracy, with 11 out of 26 stress patterns having higher production accuracy than perception. The study also observes the impact of syllabic structure, phonological similarity, and vowel reduction on the asymmetry between production and perception. Recommendations are made for Chinese ESL teachers to prioritize teaching stress patterns with high asymmetrical relationships, and the implications for English teaching and learning are discussed. Additionally, a list of stress patterns with a lower symmetrical relationship between production and perception of English word stress is presented.