https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Index en-au 5 https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:46711 n = 80), intermediate second language (L2) Mandarin learners (n = 40), and L1 Mandarin speakers (n = 40) took part in a multiday Mandarin-like artificial language learning task. Participants were asked to repeat a syllable–tone combination immediately after hearing it. Half of all participants were exposed to speech from 1 talker (low variability) while the other half heard speech from 4 talkers (high variability). Half of the L1 English participants were given daily explicit instruction on Mandarin tone contours, while the other half were not. Tone accuracy was measured by L1 Mandarin raters (n = 104) who classified productions according to their perceived tonal category. Explicit instruction of tone contours facilitated L1 English participants’ production of rising and falling tone contours. High variability input alone had no main effect on participants’ productions but interacted with explicit instruction to improve participants’ productions of high-level tone contours. These results motivate an L2 tone production training approach that consists of explicit tone instruction followed by gradual exposure to more variable speech.]]> Wed 29 Mar 2023 12:32:34 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:30264 N = 360) responded to a questionnaire relating to the main components of L2MSS, the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience, as well as learners’ intended learning efforts. The participants’ L2 proficiency was then measured with an EFL reading and writing test. Descriptive and inferential analyses of the collected data revealed—as expected—that the components of the L2MSS were a good predictor of the learners’ intended learning efforts. However, the study also established that in this learner population these components were not consistently correlated with L2 achievement. The findings can be treated as evidence that self-reported motivation does not always have behavioral consequences.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:33:37 AEDT ]]>