Academic Staff
- HHB715, Hung Hom Bay Campus
- +852 2766 6361
- eric.pelzl@polyu.edu.hk
ORCID ID
SCOPUS ID
Google ScholarBiography
I am a psycholinguist who studies issues related to the second language learning and bilingualism, especially involving Chinese languages. Once upon a time, I learned and taught Mandarin as a second language, an experience that has deeply influenced my research interests. I focus on questions related to lexical tones and Chinese characters. My research uses a variety of behavioral and neurophysiological (ERP) methods.
Education and Academic Qualifications
- Ph.D., Second Language Acquisition, University of Maryland, College Park
- M.A., Chinese, Middlebury College
Academic and Professional Experience
- Assistant Professor, Department of Language Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Postdoctoral fellow, Center for Language Science, Penn State University
- Instructor of Mandarin Chinese, Wisconsin Lutheran College
Teaching Areas
- Linguistics
- Applied Linguistics
- Psycholinguistics
- Neurolinguistics
- Research Methods
Research Interests
Selected Publications
- Pelzl, E. (2025) High variability orthographic training: Learning words in a logographic script through training with multiple typefaces. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 32(5). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-025-02646-0
- Pelzl, E., Liu, J., Qi, C. (2022) Native language experience with tones influences both phonetic and lexical processes when acquiring a second tonal language. Journal of Phonetics. 95, 101197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2022.101197
- Pelzl, E., Carlson, M. T., Guo, T., Jackson, C. N., van Hell, J. G. (2021) Tuning out tone errors? Native listeners do not down-weight tones when hearing unsystematic tone errors in foreign-accented Mandarin. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 24(1), 215-222. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728920000280
- Pelzl, E., Lau, E., Guo, T., DeKeyser, R., C. (2021) Even in the best-case scenario L2 learners have persistent difficulty perceiving and utilizing tones in Mandarin: Findings from behavioral and ERP experiments. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 43(2), 268-296. https://doi.org/10.1017/S027226312000039X
- Pelzl, E., Lau, E. F., Jackson, S. R., Guo, T., Gor, K. (2021) Behavioral and neural responses to tone errors in foreign-accented Mandarin. Language Learning, 71(2), 414-452. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12438
- Pelzl, E. (2019). What makes perception of Mandarin tones difficult for second language learners: A non-technical review of evidence from psycholinguistic research. Chinese as a Second Language, 54(1), 51-78. https://doi.org/10.1075/csl.18009.pel
- Pelzl, E., Lau, E., Guo, T., DeKeyser, R., C. (2019). Advanced second language learners’ perception of lexical tone contrasts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(1), 59-86. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263117000444
- 2024 - 2026
Principal Investigator, Adaptation to tonal variation in Cantonese- and English-accented
Mandarin speech, RGC Early Career Scheme grant (25616024) - 2020 - 2022
Principal Investigator, Adapting to unsystematic variation in foreign-accented speech, NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF grant 2004279)
- 2024 - Present
Editorial board member for Second Language Research
