Language Learners' Perceptions of Accent  

Oleh:

Scales, Julie ; Wennerstrom, Ann ; Richard, Dara ; Wu, Su Hui

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: TESOL Quarterly (Full Text; vol 1-16 ada di JSTOR) vol. 40 no. 4 (Des. 2006), halaman 715-738.
Fulltext: Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 715-738.pdf (1,96MB)

Isi artikel

This si i id analyzed the accent perceptions of a group of 37 English language learners and 10 American undergraduate students. Each subject listened to a one-minute passage read by four speakers with different accents of English: General American, British English, Chinese English, and Mexican English. Participants then attempted to identify the different accents and stated their preferences and opin- ions about each. They also provided background information, includ- ing reasons for studying English and pronunciation goals. Additionally, 11 participants were individually interviewed about the different accents. Although more than half (62%) of the learners stated that their goal was to sound like a native English speaker, only 29% were able to correctly identify the American accent. No strong correlations were found between the ability to identify accents and the amount of time spent in the United States nor time studying English. However, an almost perfect correlation was found between the accent voted easiest to understand and the one that participants preferred. The lack of consistency in identifying accents may reflect an idealized con- ception of what the native accent aspired to actually sounds like. This finding and the priority placed on listening comprehension suggest a need for more thorough consideration of accent in ESOL programs.

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