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Native Reactions to Non-Native Speech: A Review of Empirical Research*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Miriam Eisenstein
Miriam Eisenstein
Affiliation:
New York University
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Abstract

Recent research considers native reactions to various aspects of non-native speech and associated judgments regarding such speakers. The studies discussed here view listeners, speakers, and language from a variety of perspectives employing both objective and subjective research paradigms. Interlocutor variables which have been found to influence linguistic perceptions include age, social status, degree of bilingualism, and educational level. Even the linguistic sophistication of the listener may be important.

Studies of error gravity, which treat the perceived seriousness of error types in learners' interlanguage, may now be contrasted with data from several related and unrelated languages. The relative intelligibility of language samples has also been investigated as has the role of comprehension in the information of linguistic judgments.

Research reflecting listeners' personal impressions and reactions shows that non-natives tend to be downgraded in contexts ranging from the classroom to the workplace. This area of experimentation would be enhanced by exploration of the issues through studies in natural sociolinguistic contexts.

Type
Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , Spring 1983 , pp. 160 - 176
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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References

Notes

1. Critics of matched guise such as Kramer (1964) have commented that it is unnatural to repeat the same message over and over, and that tapes lack social context. Agheyisi and Fishman (1970) point out that judges in a real setting react to congruity between topic, speaker and variety, interactions not considered in most matched guise experiments. Nevertheless, several studies have corroborated the results of matched guise research using other approaches (See Taylor and Gardner, 1969, d'Anglejan and Tucker, 1973 and Bourhis and Giles, 1976)

2. This approach has the advantange of control but might affect listeners' judgments by creating the expectation that a speaker with such a good accent should not make basic errors.