“Repeat After Me”: Is There a Better Way to Correct Tone Errors in Teaching Mandarin Chinese as a Second Language?

Blocked practice outperforms random practice in sports and musical training. This study examines whether the principle of blocked practice and random practice applies to correcting L2 Mandarin learners’ tone errors. Three treatments were designed: (1) repeating the target word (blocked practice), (2) repeating the target word in the original context (blocked practice combined with random practice), and (3) repeating the target word in a new context (random practice). Nineteen L2 Mandarin learners received treatments to correct their tone errors and then participated in the post-treatment assessments. The results showed that the third treatment was the best among the three, which indicated that repeating the target words without context is not as effective as repeating them in a context when correcting the tone errors. A pedagogical modal is proposed based on the findings. The limitations of the current study and methodological refinement are also discussed.