Perception of Familiar Second Language Accents and the Role of Linguistic Background
This study investigates the ability of listeners to categorize second language (L2) accents with high familiarity and examines how their linguistic background affects their categorization accuracy. The participants were first language (L1) Greek bilingual and multilingual listeners, who completed a...
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/24/11776 |
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| author | Georgios P. Georgiou |
| author_facet | Georgios P. Georgiou |
| author_sort | Georgios P. Georgiou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study investigates the ability of listeners to categorize second language (L2) accents with high familiarity and examines how their linguistic background affects their categorization accuracy. The participants were first language (L1) Greek bilingual and multilingual listeners, who completed a task involving the categorization of talkers’ origins. After listening to samples of English (the listeners’ L2) and Greek-accented English, they assigned each sample to either England or Greece. Both bilingual and multilingual listeners showed accuracy above chance levels. This suggests among other findings that shared knowledge of the target language structure by both the talkers and listeners who speak the same L1 (i.e., Greek) and the use of common interlanguage patterns by the talkers may have aided in the easy identification of Greek-accented English by the listeners. Interestingly, multilinguals did not demonstrate higher accuracy than bilinguals in categorizing accents, indicating that the exposure advantage found in previous research may not apply when familiarity effects are strong. Another important finding was the better identification of Greek-accented English compared to English by the listeners; this provides evidence that listeners were more attuned to the acoustic features characteristic of the former accent. The findings carry theoretical and pedagogical implications for L2 acquisition and crosslinguistic speech perception. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9e02be3d6dfd4acd8406a47be68a3ef0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-9e02be3d6dfd4acd8406a47be68a3ef02024-12-27T14:08:20ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172024-12-0114241177610.3390/app142411776Perception of Familiar Second Language Accents and the Role of Linguistic BackgroundGeorgios P. Georgiou0Department of Languages and Literature, University of Nicosia, Nicosia 2417, CyprusThis study investigates the ability of listeners to categorize second language (L2) accents with high familiarity and examines how their linguistic background affects their categorization accuracy. The participants were first language (L1) Greek bilingual and multilingual listeners, who completed a task involving the categorization of talkers’ origins. After listening to samples of English (the listeners’ L2) and Greek-accented English, they assigned each sample to either England or Greece. Both bilingual and multilingual listeners showed accuracy above chance levels. This suggests among other findings that shared knowledge of the target language structure by both the talkers and listeners who speak the same L1 (i.e., Greek) and the use of common interlanguage patterns by the talkers may have aided in the easy identification of Greek-accented English by the listeners. Interestingly, multilinguals did not demonstrate higher accuracy than bilinguals in categorizing accents, indicating that the exposure advantage found in previous research may not apply when familiarity effects are strong. Another important finding was the better identification of Greek-accented English compared to English by the listeners; this provides evidence that listeners were more attuned to the acoustic features characteristic of the former accent. The findings carry theoretical and pedagogical implications for L2 acquisition and crosslinguistic speech perception.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/24/11776familiar accentforeign accentsecond languagecategorizationlinguistic background |
| spellingShingle | Georgios P. Georgiou Perception of Familiar Second Language Accents and the Role of Linguistic Background Applied Sciences familiar accent foreign accent second language categorization linguistic background |
| title | Perception of Familiar Second Language Accents and the Role of Linguistic Background |
| title_full | Perception of Familiar Second Language Accents and the Role of Linguistic Background |
| title_fullStr | Perception of Familiar Second Language Accents and the Role of Linguistic Background |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perception of Familiar Second Language Accents and the Role of Linguistic Background |
| title_short | Perception of Familiar Second Language Accents and the Role of Linguistic Background |
| title_sort | perception of familiar second language accents and the role of linguistic background |
| topic | familiar accent foreign accent second language categorization linguistic background |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/24/11776 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT georgiospgeorgiou perceptionoffamiliarsecondlanguageaccentsandtheroleoflinguisticbackground |