We examined how observers’ impressions of nonnative speakers and their cues to deception affected decision-making. Native and nonnative English speakers lied or told the truth about having committed a transgression, and then observers attempted to detect their lies. Observers were better able to discriminate between lie- and truth-telling native speakers than nonnative speakers. They also held more positive impressions of native speakers than nonnative speakers. Unlike observers, trained coders identified a multitude of differences in interviewees’ presentation of cues to deception across proficiency groups. Overall, nonnative speakers appear to be at a significant disadvantage in lie-detection contexts.
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