The Effects of Foreign Accent on Perceptions of Nonstandard Grammar: A Pilot Study

Ruivivar, June; Collins, Laura

doi:10.1002/tesq.374

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This tendency reflects the main objective of L2 comprehensibility assessment, which is to obtain a general picture of what speakers intend to convey as quickly as possible (Munro & Derwing, ). To take another example, when listeners are asked to rate for global foreign accentedness, research has shown that they take into account not only phonological accuracy (Riney et al., ) but also lexis and grammar sophistication (Ruivivar & Collins, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Second Language Pronunciation Teaching Revisited: A Proposed Measurement Framework and Meta‐Analysis

2019

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We propose a new framework for conceptualizing measures of instructed second language (L2) pronunciation performance according to three sets of parameters: (a) the constructs (focused on global vs. specific aspects of pronunciation), (b) the scoring method (human raters vs. acoustic analyses), and (c) the type of knowledge elicited (controlled vs. spontaneous). Adopting this model (Framework for L2 Pronunciation Measurement) as a synthetic tool, we coded the instruments found in 77 studies of L2 pronunciation teaching published between 1982 and 2017. We calculated the frequency of each measurement type and reexamined the interaction of instructional effectiveness and measurement within the sample. According to the results, instruction is most effective when it targets learners' monitored production of specific segmental or suprasegmental features. The efficacy of instruction remains relatively unclear when gains are measured globally via subjective, human judgments, especially at a spontaneous level.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Second Language Pronunciation Teaching Revisited: A Proposed Measurement Framework and Meta‐Analysis

2019

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“…In previous research (Saito et al., ), raters have had some relevant backgrounds in linguistic analyses so that they could selectively (but subjectively) attend to and evaluate the appropriate use of vocabulary (for a similar subjective approach to L2 accuracy, see Foster & Wigglesworth, , for weighted accuracy; Ruivivar & Collins, , for morphosyntactic accuracy). This same methodology, training, and materials were used in the current study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of scholars have thus far explored how, while taking into account error gravity, humans can subjectively assess the global quality of L2 speech. To date, such subjective judgments have been operationalized using indices such as global weighted accuracy (Foster & Wigglesworth, ), communicative success and adequacy (Kuiken & Vedder, ), semantic and lexical appropriateness (Saito et al., ), and morphosyntactic accuracy (Ruivivar & Collins, ). Note, however, that these subjective judgments cited here are not entirely intuitive (i.e., easy or natural) for human raters when assessing the global quality of speech.…”

Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐ or Single‐Word Units? The Role of Collocation Use in Comprehensible and Contextually Appropriate Second Language Speech

Saito

2020

Language Learning

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The current study examined the degree to which collocation use (i.e., meaningful co-occurrences of multiple words) is related to first language (L1) raters' intuitive judgments of second language (L2) speech. Speech samples from a picture description task performed by 85 Japanese learners of English with varied L2 proficiency profiles were transcribed for 10 L1 raters to access for global comprehensibility (the extent to which speech can be easily understood) and lexical appropriateness (the extent to which words are used adequately and naturally in context). The samples were then submitted to a range of lexical measures tapping into the collocation (frequency, association), depth (abstractness), and breadth aspects (frequency, range) of L2 vocabulary use. Results of the statistical analyses showed that the raters' comprehensibility and lexical appropriateness scores were strongly determined by the L2 speakers' use of lowfrequency combinations containing infrequent, abstract, and complex words (i.e., mutual information).

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“…Following this line of thought, linguistically trained raters participated in the current study to assess three different constructs of lexical appropriateness via a computerized procedure: (a) global accuracy (i.e., overall ease of understanding; Saito et al., ), (b) semantic accuracy (i.e., the selection of appropriate words in context; Saito, Trofimovich, & Isaacs, ), and (c) morphosyntactic accuracy (i.e., the accurate use of tense, aspects, agreement, plurality, and word order; Ruivivar & Collins, ). All the transcripts were displayed in a randomized order via a tailor‐made, MATLAB‐based software program.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As with previous studies (e.g., Saito et al., ; Ruivivar & Collins, ), the raters first received detailed explanation on the purpose of the project (examining lexical profiles of Japanese learners’ L2 English speech); on the definitions for comprehensibility, lexical appropriateness, and morphosyntactic accuracy; and on the interpretations of the endpoints (what it meant by the most left‐ and right‐hand sides of each rating continuum). The training scripts are detailed in the Appendix.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

To What Extent Does Long‐Term Foreign Language Education Help Improve Spoken Second Language Lexical Proficiency?

Saito

2018

TESOL Quarterly

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The current study examined lexical aspects of second language (L2) speech attainment in the foreign language (FL) classroom setting (i.e., several hours of target language input per week). A total of 72 second-year university students with 7 years of FL study and no experience abroad participated in the study. Their spontaneous speech was analyzed via a set of lexical measures and then compared to that of experienced, naturalistic Japanese L2 learners of English. According to the results, their lexical proficiency was factored into three dimensions-appropriateness (global, semantic, morphosyntactic accuracy), specificity (frequency, range), and abstractness (concreteness, meaningfulness, imageability, hypernymy). Overall, extensive FL education led many participants' specificity performance to reach proficiency levels comparable to the baseline group. Approximately half of participants achieved such satisfactory proficiency in abstractness. The participants' lexical appropriateness demonstrated a great deal of individual variability and was linked to the extent to which they had recently practiced the target language.

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The Effects of Foreign Accent on Perceptions of Nonstandard Grammar: A Pilot Study

Cited by 10 publications

References 20 publications

Effects of Second Language Pronunciation Teaching Revisited: A Proposed Measurement Framework and Meta‐Analysis

Effects of Second Language Pronunciation Teaching Revisited: A Proposed Measurement Framework and Meta‐Analysis

Multi‐ or Single‐Word Units? The Role of Collocation Use in Comprehensible and Contextually Appropriate Second Language Speech

To What Extent Does Long‐Term Foreign Language Education Help Improve Spoken Second Language Lexical Proficiency?

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