Perception of tones by infants learning a non-tone language

This article examines the perception of tones by non-tone-language-learning (non-tone-learning) infants between 5 and 18 months in a study that reveals infants’ initial sensitivity to tonal contrasts, deterioration yet plasticity of tonal sensitivity at the end of the first year, and a perceptual rebound in the second year. Dutch infants in five age groups were tested on their ability to discriminate a tonal contrast of Mandarin Chinese as well as a contracted tonal contrast. Infants are able to discriminate tonal contrasts at 5–6 months, and their tonal sensitivity deteriorates at around 9 months. However, the sensitivity rebound sat 17–18 months. Non-tone-learning infants’ tonal perception is elastic, as is shown by the influence of acoustic salience and distributional learning: (1) a salient contrast may remain discriminable throughout infancy whereas a less salient one does not; (2) a bimodal distribution in tonal exposure increases non-tone-learning infants’ discrimination ability during the trough in sensitivity to tonal contrasts at 11–12 months. These novel findings reveal non-tone-learning infants’ U-shaped pattern in tone perception, and display their perceptual flexibility.