This study investigates whether there is a relationship between negative
attitudes toward non-native speakers and poor comprehension of those speakers.
Twelve native English speakers whose attitudes toward Koreans had been
assessed were asked to complete an interactional map task paired with native
Korean speakers. In the task, some but not all of those who had been assessed
as having negative attitudes toward Koreans were found to use either
strategies that were described as problematizing their partners'
utterances, or strategies that were described as avoidance. All participants
completed the map task reasonably successfully except where the native
English speaker used avoidance strategies, suggesting that the relationship
between attitude and comprehension is mediated by the native speaker's
choice of strategies. However, there appeared to be a direct relationship
between attitude and perceived success of interactions, which may
ultimately have the same consequences for interactants as if the relationship
were between attitude and actual success.
This study attempts to discover how native US English speakers construct social categories for people outside the US. A close look at one group's belief system provides insights that can be used in addressing linguistic discrimination, with information on how varieties and features of varieties are perceived. Here 79 US undergraduates labeled maps with descriptions of English spoken by international students, and 208 rated the English of students from 58 countries. Familiarity and socio-political relationships with countries of origin appeared to play a role in responses. Evaluation was often central to description, with a category of stigmatized, often "broken", English used for all non-native speakers except perhaps (Western) Europeans. Salient subgroups were: negatively evaluated "Chinese" English, somewhat negatively evaluated "Mexican" English, and "harsh" and "guttural" Russian English. Respondents had competing frameworks for classifying Indian and German English. A model of these overlapping categories and implications for addressing linguistic prejudice are suggested.
Second language pronunciation research and teaching relies on human listeners to assess second language speakers’ performance. Most applied linguists working in this area have been satisfied that listener ratings are reasonably reliable when well‐controlled research protocols are implemented. We argue, however, that listeners demonstrate a certain amount of reliability in their ratings of speakers stemming from shared expectations of a speaker's language and social groups, rather than from the speech itself. In this article, we discuss evidence from perceptual psychology, sociolinguistics, and phonetics demonstrating a sizable listener influence on speech perception. We conclude by suggesting ways for research and teaching to acknowledge and contend with the role of the listener.
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