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Applying Accommodation Theory to Variable Performance Data in L2

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Jane Zuengler
Affiliation:
Teachers College, Columbia

Abstract

The pilot study reported here used Accommodation Theory in addressing this question: when L2 speakers are asked to reply to a statement which is ethnolinguistically threatening, will their speech diverge (i.e., become less TL-like) ? The study focused on phonological variants in the replies of 13 ESL speakers. Results indicated that the nature of reply was important: only those whose replies were personal and/or ethnically related showed a decrease in TL correctness.

Type
Research Notes
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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