LINGUISTIC DIMENSIONS OF L2 ACCENTEDNESS AND COMPREHENSIBILITY VARY ACROSS SPEAKING TASKS

What is it about?

We consider which linguistic measures (e.g., segmental accuracy, word stress, intonation, lexis, grammar) of second language (L2) speech are associated with native listeners' perception of L2 speakers' accentedness (nativelikeness) and comprehensibility (ease of understanding). We specifically investigate whether these associations remain as task complexity increases.

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Why is it important?

The current study extends the findings of Crowther et al. (2015 –TESOL Quarterly, & 2015 – Modern Language Journal) by comparing linguistic correlates of accentedness and comprehensibility across three tasks of differing complexity. Our previous work either focused on a single task (2015 – TESOL Quarterly) or on only comprehensibility (2015 – Modern Language Journal). By considering both global constructs (accentedness, comprehensibility) across three tasks, we were able to provide a more complete picture of the relationship between listener perception and L2 speech, in regards to linguistic correlates.