This study investigates the possible errors related to intonational foreign accent of Mandarin Chinese learners of German. 12 Chinese learners of different levels were asked to read 16 German sentences with typical tonal contours twice: for the first time reading utterances together with the communication intentions were presented; for the second time, additional information of accented syllables was also provided. Two German native speakers also participated in the production experiment as references. Some of the sentences were then assessed by native German listeners. Acoustic measures were conducted to analyze the production of 416 short sentences and phrases. Results show that the foreign accent of Mandarin Chinese learners of German can be attributed to incorrect placement and different phonetic realization of tonal categories, higher beginning pitch levels, more frequent and much greater pitch changes, as well as improper inserted pauses and unaccented syllables. Findings can provide implications for cross language studies and foreign language education.

Index Terms: German intonation, Mandarin Chinese learners, intonational foreign accent