Abstract
This study explores the identification and evaluation of English accents by non-native English speakers, specifically Czech and Slovak undergraduate students majoring in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The research aims to determine how these students perceive and rate ten English accents, including native and non-native varieties. Using questionnaires, the study examines the correlation between the ability to identify the speakers’ native language and the evaluation of their English pronunciation quality. The findings reveal that Czech and Slovak students generally share similar evaluations of English accents, with significant differences primarily in identifying and evaluating accents related to their native languages. This research contributes to understanding how related linguistic backgrounds influence the perception and judgment of English accents, providing insights for language teaching and accent training in EFL contexts.
References
Baese-Berk, M.M. / McLaughlin, D.J. / McGowan, K.B. (2020). Perception of non-native speech. Language and Linguist Compass, 14(7), 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12375
Barona, D.V. (2008). Native and non-native speakers’ perceptions of non-native accents. LL Journal, 3(2), 103–111.
Beinhoff, B. (2013). Perceiving identity through accent – attitudes towards non-native speakers and their accents in English. Oxford: Peter Lang. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0353-0454-1
Bent, T. / Bradlow, A.R. (2003). The interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 114(3), 1600–1610. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1603234
Brennan, E.M. / Brennan, J.S. (1981). Accent scaling and language attitudes: Reactions to Mexican American English speech. Language and Speech, 24(3), 207–221. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002383098102400301
Callan, V.J. (1983) Anglo-Australian attitudes toward immigrants: A review of survey evidence. International Migration Review, 17, 120–137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/019791838301700105
Cargile, A.C. (1997) Attitudes toward Chinese-accented speech: An investigation in two contexts. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16, 434–444. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X970164004
Chiba, R. / Matsuura, H. / Yamamoto, A. (1995). Japanese attitudes towards English accents. World Englishes, 14, 77–86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.1995.tb00341.x
Chien, S.-C. (2018). Attitudes towards varieties of English by non-native and native speakers: A comparative view from Taiwan and the UK. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, the University of Glasgow.
Crystal, D. (2008). Two thousand million?: Updates on the statistics of English. English Today, 24, 3–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078408000023
Cunningham-Andersson, U. / Engstrand, O. (1989). Perceived strength and identity of foreign accent in Swedish. Phonetica, 46(4), 138–154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000261839
Cutler, A. (2012). Native listening. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9012.001.0001
Edwards, J.R. (1999) Refining our understanding of language attitudes. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18, 101–110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X99018001007
Engen van, K.J. / Peelle, J.E. (2014). Listening effort and accented speech. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(577), 1–4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00577
Fayer, J.M. / Krasinski, E. (1987). Native and nonnative judgments of intelligibility and irritation. Language Learning, 37(3), 313–326. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1987.tb00573.x
Gluszek, A. / Dovidio, J.F. (2010). The way they speak: A social psychological perspective on the stigma of nonnative accents in communication. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 214–237. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868309359288
Graddol, D. (1997). The future of English. London: The British Council.
Honorof, D.N. / McCullough, J. / Somerville, B. (2000). Comma gets a cure: A diagnostic passage for accent study. Technical Report.
IDEA (2024). IDEA: International dialects of English archive. Paul Meier Dialect Services, LC. www.dialectsarchive.com
Jenkins, J. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching world Englishes and English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 157–181. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/40264515
Kachru, B.B. (1986). The alchemy of English: The spread, functions, and models of non-native Englishes. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Kachru, B.B. (1997) World Englishes and English-using communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 17, 66–87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190500003287
Kirkpatrick, A. (2007). World Englishes: Implications for international communication and English language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ladegaard, H.J. (1998) National stereotypes and language attitudes: the perception of British, American and Australian language and culture in Denmark. Language and Communication, 18, 251–274 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(98)00008-1
Lindemann, S. (2002). Listening with an attitude: A model of native-speaker comprehension of non-native speakers in the United States. Language in Society, 31(3), 419–441. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404502020286
Lindemann, S. (2003). Koreans, Chinese or Indians? Attitudes and ideologies about non-native English speakers in the United States. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(3), 348–364. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00228
Lindemann, S. (2005). Who speaks “broken English”? US undergraduates’ perceptions of non-native English. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15(2), 187–212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2005.00087.x
Lippi-Green, R. (1997). English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States. London: Routledge.
Martens, M. (2020). Attitudes towards native and non-native accents of English. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Ghent University.
McKay, S.L. (2002). Teaching English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McKenzie, R.M. (2008) Social factors and non-native attitudes towards varieties of spoken English: A Japanese case study. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18, 63–88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2008.00179.x
McKenzie, R.M. (2010) The social psychology of English as a global language: Attitudes, awareness and identity in the Japanese context. London: Springer.
Porretta, V. / Tucker, B.V. (2019). Eyes wide open: Pupillary response to a foreign accent varying in intelligibility. Frontiers in Communication, 4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2019.00008
Preston, D. (2004). Language attitudes to speech. In: E. Finegan / J.R. Rickford (eds.), Language in the USA (pp. 480–492). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511809880.028
Preston, D. (2010) Language, people, salience, space: Perceptual dialectology and language regard. Dialectologia, 5, 87–131.
Rubin, D.L. (1992). Nonlanguage factors affecting undergraduates’ judgments of non-native Englishspeaking teaching assistants. Research in Higher Education, 33, 511–531. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00973770
Ryan, E.B. / Carranza, M.A. (1975). Evaluative reactions of adolescents toward speakers of standard English and Mexican American accented English. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 855–863. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076704
Smith, J. (2012). English and Englishes. In: P. Seargeant / J. Swann (eds.), English in the world: History, diversity, change (pp. 197–244). London: Routledge.
Sokolova, M. (1991). Komunikativna efektivnost ceskych kontaktovych javov v sucasnej slovencine. In: P. Odalos / V. Patras (eds.), Vseobecne a specificke otazky jazykovej komunikacie 2 (pp. 232–242). Banska Bystrica: PF UMB.
Sykes, A.H. (2010). A study of Singaporeans’ attitudes to eleven expanding circle accents of English. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, the University of Leicester.
Tsurutani, C. (2012). Evaluation of speakers with foreign-accented speech in Japan: The effect of accent produced by English native speakers. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33, 589–603. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2012.697465
Weissler, R.E. / Drake, S. / Kampf, K. / Diantoro, C. / Forster, K. / Kirkpatrick, A. / Preligera, I. / Wesson, O. / Wood, A. / Baese-Berk, M.M. (2023). Examining linguistic and experimenter biases through “non-native” versus “native” speech. Applied Psycholinguistics, 44(4), 460–474. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716423000115
Wright, S. (1996). Accents of English. In: D. Graddol / D. Leith / J. Swann (eds.), English history, diversity and change (pp. 259–292). London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003572169-8
Yook, C. / Lindemann, S. (2013). The role of speaker identification in Korean university students’ attitudes towards five varieties of English. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 34, 279–296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2012.734509
Zhang, Q. (2010). Attitudes beyond the inner circle: investigating Hong Kong students’ attitudes towards English accents. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Newcastle University.
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Zdena Kralova, Katarina Nemcokova, Karla Hrbackova, Samuel Kral
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors
Authors of texts accepted for publication in Glottodidactica are required to complete, sign and return to the Editorial team’s office the Agreement for granting a royalty-free license to works with a commitment to grant a CC sub-license.
Under the agreement, the authors of the texts published in Glottodidactica grant Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań a non-exclusive, royalty-free license and authorize the use of Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license.
The authors retain the right to the free disposal of the work.
Users
Interested Internet users are entitled to use works that have been published in Glottodidactica since 2016, under the following conditions:
▪ attribution – obligation to provide, together with the distributed work, information about the authorship, title, source (link to the original work, DOI) and the license itself.
▪ no derivatives – the work must be preserved in its original form. Without the author's consent, it is not possible to distribute the modified work in the form of translations, publications, etc.
Copyrights are reserved for all texts published before 2016.
Miscellaneous
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań retains the property right as a whole (layout, graphic form, title, cover design, logo etc.).
Privacy statement
The names and email addresses published on this journal site will be used exclusively for the purposes declared by this journal and cannot be used for any other purpose or by any other party.