Saito, Kazuya and Trofimovich, Pavel and Isaacs, T. (2017) Using listener judgments to investigate linguistic influences on L2 comprehensibility and accentedness: a validation and generalization study. Applied Linguistics 38 (4), pp. 439-462. ISSN 0142-6001.
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Abstract
The current study investigated linguistic influences on comprehensibility (ease of understanding) and accentedness (linguistic nativelikeness) in second language (L2) learners’ extemporaneous speech. Target materials included picture narratives from 40 native French speakers of English from different proficiency levels. The narratives were subsequently rated by 20 native speakers with or without linguistic and pedagogical experience for comprehensibility, accentedness, and 11 linguistic variables spanning the domains of phonology, lexis, grammar, and discourse structure. Results showed that comprehensibility was associated with several linguistic variables (vowel/consonant errors, word stress, fluency, lexis, grammar), whereas accentedness was chiefly linked to pronunciation (vowel/consonant errors, word stress). Native-speaking listeners thus appear to pay particular attention to pronunciation, rather than lexis and grammar, to evaluate nativelikeness but tend to consider various sources of linguistic information in L2 speech in judging comprehensibility. The use of listener ratings (perceptual measures) in evaluating linguistic aspects of learner speech and their implications for language assessment and pedagogy are discussed.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. |
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Comprehensibility, accent, second language speech, pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary, grammar, discourse |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication |
| Depositing User: | Kazuya Saito |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Nov 2015 14:57 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Aug 2023 12:37 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/13316 |
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