Literature has shown that foreign-accented (FA) speech modulates the degree of irony perceived by native (NA) individuals, but the subsequent consequences it may have on social interaction are unknown. To address this question, we presented Spanish first language (L1) users with written contexts with ironic/literal praises allocated to either a NA…

This study examines L2 speakers' accent attitudes in relation to their linguistic profile and current practices, recruiting 107 multilingual postgraduate students of 34 different nationalities enrolled in leading research universities in Japan. The participants completed a survey regarding their perceptions of different English varieties in…

With the number of international students growing rapidly within (international) higher education, more attention has been focused on the need to consider international students' experiences, particularly those from the global south, from more critical, ethical and qualitative perspectives. This paper examines how the lived experiences of three…

This study investigates variation in listeners' accuracy in accent identification of native and non-native speakers of English. Thirty native speakers of New Zealand (NZ) English completed a free identification task with stimuli extracted from naturalistic conversations of several speakers from three native and two non-native English language…

Previous research has revealed that although EFL students may claim to prefer British/US accents they often have difficulty identifying them, especially when such accents may differ from "standard" accents presented in ELT materials. In the Gulf, English is widely used as a lingua franca or as a second language by the large expatriate…

Research suggests that passing for a native English speaker (NES) is often perceived as desirable by teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and employers, and students may claim to prefer certain NES accents as learning models. While this may be partly motivated by the prevalence of a particular regional accent in ESL contexts or…

Foreign-accented speakers are generally regarded as less educated, less reliable and less interesting than native speakers and tend to be associated with cultural stereotypes of their country of origin. This discrimination against foreign accents has, however, been discussed mainly using accented English in English-speaking countries. This study…

This paper explores the purported negative influence of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) on child second language acquisition (SLA) by studying Hong Kong Cantonese children's listening ability in second language (L2) English. 31 kindergarten third graders aged 4;6 to 6, and 29 first year secondary students aged 11-14 who have had a Filipino…

Seventy-eight native English speakers rated the foreign-accented speech (FAS) of 24 international students enrolled in an Intensive English programme at a public university in Texas on degree of accent, comprehensibility and communicative ability. Variables considered to potentially impact listeners' ratings were the sex of the speaker, the first…

This study examined the effect of information about native/non-native speaker status on non-native listeners' perception of English words with word-final stops. A survey study conducted with 38 Chinese learners of English in Guangzhou, China examined their stereotypes about Cantonese English. They described it negatively and named features…

Learners who begin to acquire a second language (L2) in a naturalistic environment after puberty are thought to be constrained by biological age factors and to have greater difficulty obtaining native-like L2. However, the extant literature suggests that L2 acquisition may be positively affected by post-maturational factors, such as acculturation.…

Language attitude studies have tended to assume that informants who listen to and evaluate speech stimuli are able to identify with consistent accuracy the varieties of English in question. However, misidentification could reduce the validity of any results obtained, particularly when it involves the evaluations of non-native English-speaking…

This study presents new data on the degree of "foreign" accent among immigrant learners of English in the USA (total N = 50) as it correlates to learner orientation to the target language and target language culture. Correlation analyses confirm the significance of age of onset and length of immersion, as well as learner attitudes, including: (a)…

Examined the effect of cross-cultural awareness training and explicit linguistic instruction on attitudes towards and comprehension of foreign-accented speech in three groups of students. Listening comprehension passages read in Vietnamese-accented speech before and after an 8-week instruction period revealed no cross-group differences. Attitude…