In this dissertation, I investigated how cognitive resources as well as formal, and informal language experience impact language learning in two studies. In the first study (Chapter 2), I examined the learning of Spanish grammatical gender by Chinese international students who were studying abroad in the US. The goal of that study was to uncover…

Vietnamese (Vietic, Mon-Khmer, Austroasiatic) is monosyllabic and tonal. Most Mon-Khmer (MK) languages are multisyllabic and atonal. Evidence suggests that Vietnamese (VN) has had its tones less than one millennium, and that other languages (both MK and non-MK) are also acquiring tones, a process called "tonogenesis". Comparing VN's…

Twentieth century studies in the field of Sino-Vietnamese linguistics, with particular emphasis on work since 1955, are examined and evaluated. The discussions focus on how the studies were developed, what the current state is, and where problems are. A bibliography of works mentioned in the main text is included. (Author/SW)

The aim of this study is to identify and describe the tones of North Vietnamese in the context of single words and one frame sentence. One North Vietnamese male served for seven hours as the informant, the stimulus material being verbal items, illustrations and word lists in both English and Vietnamese. The description of each of the six tones…

Aspects of the Vietnamese language are introduced in this manual for inservice teacher training. The development of Vietnamese as it was influenced by other Austro-Asiatic languages is discussed. A brief modern history of the language emphasizes contact with Chinese, English, and French. The replacement of Chinese characters with the Roman…

This study is the sixth in the series "Studies in the Phonology of Asian Languages." A phonetic and phonemic analysis of the three complex nuclei of Vietnames (Hanoi dialect), spelled (1) ye-, -ie-, -ia, (2) -u'o'-, -u'a, and (3) -uo-, -ua, was carried out using the sound spectrograph. The relative domains of the target qualities of the…