Abstract/Summary

This paper presents data for a tightly controlled perception and production study of English language intonation in reading by native speakers of British English and second language learners of English in Hong Kong. We demonstrate a relatively high correlation between the scores for the two studies when data are separated by utterance type (statement, echo, wh-question, etc.). Our finding that this cohort of English learners performs better at production of nuclear tones than in the corresponding perception study adds support to the claim that the perception-production link, a theory that production is contingent on perception, is not borne out by the empirical study of learners of World Englishes. Data collected for the British English speakers give insight into a changing intonational phonology, while Hong Kong data indicate differences in intonational categories, a different distribution of tones, and possibly tonal innovation.