The assessment of foreign accent and its communicative effects by naïve native judges vs. experienced non-native judges
- Francisco Gallardo del Puerto 1
- Maria Luisa Garcia Lecumberri 2
- Esther Gómez Lacabex 2
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1
Universidad de Cantabria
info
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2
Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
info
Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Lejona, España
ISSN: 0019-0810, 1783-1490
Any de publicació: 2015
Volum: 166
Número: 2
Pàgines: 202-224
Tipus: Article
Altres publicacions en: ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Resum
The capacity of non-native evaluators to perform foreign accent (FA) judgments has been questioned. This study explores differences between linguistically trained non-native judges (NNJs) who are teachers of English familiar with the students’ L1s and naïve native judges (NJs) who do not speak the students’ L1s. Both groups were compared in their global evaluation of FA and its potential communicative effects (comprehensibility and irritation) in two groups of language learners (more and less experienced). Results show striking similarities between the two groups of judges. NNJs were as able as NJs to assess FA despite finding it more comprehensible than the NJs did. It is suggested that NNJs’ linguistic training promotes a more analytic approach to FA evaluation, which can compensate for the lack of native intuitions.