This document discusses the Chinese-English ethnolect spoken by some members of the Chinese community in Melbourne. It defines an ethnolect as a dialect used by an ethnic group and explains that the Chinese-English ethnolect is formed due to interference from the Mandarin language. The document then lists some of the key differences between Mandarin and English pronunciation and grammar that can influence the way Chinese speakers learn and use English.

1. Ogs presents...

2. Study an ethnolect that you are aware of in
Melbourne and examine how it deviates from
Standard English. You will need to define
what an ethnolect is and be culturally
sensitive. Make sure you explain why the
ethnolect is formed the way it is (e.g
‘interference’ from a first language)

3. An ethnolect is a dialect of language spoken by
a certain ethnic group. An ethnolect is formed
when an ethnic group start speaking another
language and form colloquialism and many
times a different accent.

5.  Fewer vowel contrasts – Mandarin vowels are
articulated a lot slower than English
 Chinese diphthongs are normally pronounced
with smaller tongue and lip movements

6.  /b/, /d/, /g/ are not voiced
 /v/ does not exist
 /n/ and /z/, /l/ and /r/ are difficult to distinguish
 More than one consonant in a word is rare in
Mandarin

7.  Reductions do not occur in Mandarin as much
as English
 Mandarin is completely tonal

8.  Mandarin words normally consist of one or
two morphemes
 Mandarin does not use prefixes or suffixes

9.  In Mandarin there are singular or plural forms
of nouns
 In Mandarin there is no need for articles
 Mandarin does not have strong distinctions
between prepositions

10. VOTE KAI FOR
SCHOOL CAPTAIN!!

11.  Phillip Guo – Common English mistakes made by
native Chinese speakers, Phillip Guo,
http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/chinese-
english-mistakes.htm, date accessed 18/11/11
 Language group specific fact sheet Mandarin
speakers, Alison M Plump,
http://www.ric.edu/tesl/pdf/factsheet_mandarin.
pdf , date accessed 18/11/11
 Ethnolect, Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnolect , date
accessed 23/11/11