How do second language listeners perceive the comprehensibility of foreign-accented speech?

Saito, Kazuya, Tran, Mai, Suzukida, Yui, Sun, Hui, Magne, Viktoria and Ilkan, Meltem 2019. How do second language listeners perceive the comprehensibility of foreign-accented speech? Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41 (5) 10.1017/S0272263119000226 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

The current study examines how second language (L2) users differentially assess the comprehensibility (i.e., ease of understanding) of foreign-accented speech according to a range of background variables, including first language (L1) profiles, L2 proficiency, age, experience, familiarity, and metacognition. A total of 110 L2 listeners first evaluated the global comprehensibility of 50 spontaneous speech samples produced by low-, mid-, and high-proficiency Japanese speakers of English. The listeners were categorized into two subgroups according to a cluster analysis of their rating scores: lenient and strict. Results showed that while the lenient listeners appeared to rely equally on many linguistic areas of speech during their judgments, the strict listeners were strongly attuned to phonological accuracy. Analysis of the background questionnaire data revealed that more lenient listeners likely had higher levels of awareness of the importance of comprehensibility for communication (metacognition); regularly used L2 English in professional settings (experience); and had L1s more linguistically close to the target speech samples, Japanese-accented English (L1-L2 distance).

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0272-2631
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 September 2022
Date of Acceptance:	1 May 2019
Last Modified:	08 May 2023 07:19
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/152875

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