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Journal articles on the topic 'Speech comprehensibility'
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1
Yorkston, Kathryn M., Edythe A. Strand, and Mary R. T. Kennedy. "Comprehensibility of Dysarthric Speech." American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 5, no. 1 (February 1996): 55–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/1058-0360.0501.55.
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This paper describes the concept of comprehensibility and how it is an important construct in the assessment and treatment of dysarthric speech. Intelligibility and comprehensibility are differentiated in terms of their definition, measurement, and approaches to treatment. Specifically, comprehensibility is defined within the World Health Organization model of chronic disease as a factor in disability affecting speech performance in physical and/or social contexts. The literature related to comprehensibility of dysarthric speech is reviewed. Clinical approaches to improving comprehensibility, including issues of candidacy, intervention planning, and treatment approaches, are discussed.
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Isaacs, Talia, and Pavel Trofimovich. "DECONSTRUCTING COMPREHENSIBILITY." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 34, no. 3 (August 15, 2012): 475–505. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0272263112000150.
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Comprehensibility, a major concept in second language (L2) pronunciation research that denotes listeners’ perceptions of how easily they understand L2 speech, is central to interlocutors’ communicative success in real-world contexts. Although comprehensibility has been modeled in several L2 oral proficiency scales—for example, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)—shortcomings of existing scales (e.g., vague descriptors) reflect limited empirical evidence as to which linguistic aspects influence listeners’ judgments of L2 comprehensibility at different ability levels. To address this gap, a mixed-methods approach was used in the present study to gain a deeper understanding of the linguistic aspects underlying listeners’ L2 comprehensibility ratings. First, speech samples of 40 native French learners of English were analyzed using 19 quantitative speech measures, including segmental, suprasegmental, fluency, lexical, grammatical, and discourse-level variables. These measures were then correlated with 60 native English listeners’ scalar judgments of the speakers’ comprehensibility. Next, three English as a second language (ESL) teachers provided introspective reports on the linguistic aspects of speech that they attended to when judging L2 comprehensibility. Following data triangulation, five speech measures were identified that clearly distinguished between L2 learners at different comprehensibility levels. Lexical richness and fluency measures differentiated between low-level learners; grammatical and discourse-level measures differentiated between high-level learners; and word stress errors discriminated between learners of all levels.
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Barefoot, Sidney M., Joseph H. Bochner, Barbara Ann Johnson, and Beth Ann vom Eigen. "Rating Deaf Speakers’ Comprehensibility." American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 2, no. 3 (September 1993): 31–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/1058-0360.0203.31.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of a measure of communication efficacy, one that explicitly encompasses features of both speech and language. Toward this end the construct of comprehensibility, which has been used in the field of second-language acquisition, was adapted. Comprehensibility, operationally defined as the extent to which a listener understands utterances produced by a speaker in a communication context, was studied in relation to various dimensions of communication efficacy. Four observers evaluated the comprehensibility of utterances produced by 41 deaf young adults, using a nine-point rating scale. The reliability of the comprehensibility ratings was determined, and the ratings were studied in relation to independent assessments of the subjects’ speech intelligibility, English language proficiency, speech recognition, reading comprehension, and hearing loss. The results of this investigation indicate that comprehensibility can be evaluated reliably and that comprehensibility is associated with both speech intelligibility and language proficiency. The implications of these findings for the clinical assessment of speech and language are discussed.
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Papadopoulos, Konstantinos, Athanasios Koutsoklenis, Evangelia Katemidou, and Areti Okalidou. "Perception of Synthetic and Natural Speech by Adults with Visual Impairments." Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 103, no. 7 (July 2009): 403–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0145482x0910300704.
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This study investigated the intelligibility and comprehensibility of natural speech in comparison to synthetic speech. The results demonstrate the type of errors; the relationship between intelligibility and comprehensibility; and the correlation between intelligibility and comprehensibility and key factors, such as the frequency of use of text-to-speech systems.
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Yoder, Paul J., Stephen Camarata, and Tiffany Woynaroski. "Treating Speech Comprehensibility in Students With Down Syndrome." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 59, no. 3 (June 2016): 446–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/2015_jslhr-s-15-0148.
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Purpose This study examined whether a particular type of therapy (Broad Target Speech Recasts, BTSR) was superior to a contrast treatment in facilitating speech comprehensibility in conversations of students with Down syndrome who began treatment with initially high verbal imitation. Method We randomly assigned 51 5- to 12-year-old students to either BTSR or a contrast treatment. Therapy occurred in hour-long 1-to-1 sessions in students' schools twice per week for 6 months. Results For students who entered treatment just above the sample average in verbal-imitation skill, BTSR was superior to the contrast treatment in facilitating the growth of speech comprehensibility in conversational samples. The number of speech recasts mediated or explained the BTSR treatment effect on speech comprehensibility. Conclusion Speech comprehensibility is malleable in school-age students with Down syndrome. BTSR facilitates comprehensibility in students with just above the sample average level of verbal imitation prior to treatment. Speech recasts in BTSR are largely responsible for this effect.
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Saito, Kazuya, Stuart Webb, Pavel Trofimovich, and Talia Isaacs. "LEXICAL PROFILES OF COMPREHENSIBLE SECOND LANGUAGE SPEECH." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 38, no. 4 (August 18, 2015): 677–701. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0272263115000297.
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This study examined contributions of lexical factors to native-speaking raters’ assessments of comprehensibility (ease of understanding) of second language (L2) speech. Extemporaneous oral narratives elicited from 40 French speakers of L2 English were transcribed and evaluated for comprehensibility by 10 raters. Subsequently, the samples were analyzed for 12 lexical variables targeting diverse domains of lexical usage (appropriateness, fluency, variation, sophistication, abstractness, and sense relations). For beginner-to-intermediate speakers, comprehensibility was related to basic uses of L2 vocabulary (fluent and accurate use of concrete words). For intermediate-to-advanced speakers, comprehensibility was linked to sophisticated uses of L2 lexis (morphologically accurate use of complex, less familiar, polysemous words). These findings, which highlight complex associations between lexical variables and L2 comprehensibility, suggest that improving comprehensibility requires attention to multiple lexical domains of L2 performance.
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TROFIMOVICH, PAVEL, and TALIA ISAACS. "Disentangling accent from comprehensibility." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15, no. 4 (May 25, 2012): 905–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1366728912000168.
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The goal of this study was to determine which linguistic aspects of second language speech are related to accent and which to comprehensibility. To address this goal, 19 different speech measures in the oral productions of 40 native French speakers of English were examined in relation to accent and comprehensibility, as rated by 60 novice raters and three experienced teachers. Results showed that both constructs were associated with many speech measures, but that accent was uniquely related to aspects of phonology, including rhythm and segmental and syllable structure accuracy, while comprehensibility was chiefly linked to grammatical accuracy and lexical richness.
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Crowther, Dustin, Pavel Trofimovich, Kazuya Saito, and Talia Isaacs. "LINGUISTIC DIMENSIONS OF L2 ACCENTEDNESS AND COMPREHENSIBILITY VARY ACROSS SPEAKING TASKS." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 40, no. 2 (August 22, 2017): 443–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s027226311700016x.
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AbstractThis study critically examined the previously reported partial independence between second language (L2) accentedness (degree to which L2 speech differs from the target variety) and comprehensibility (ease of understanding). In prior work, comprehensibility was linked to multiple linguistic dimensions of L2 speech (phonology, fluency, lexis, grammar) whereas accentedness was narrowly associated with L2 phonology. However, these findings stemmed from a single task (picture narrative), suggesting that task type could affect the particular linguistic measures distinguishing comprehensibility from accentedness. To address this limitation, speech ratings of 10 native listeners assessing 60 speakers of L2 English in three tasks (picture narrative, IELTS, TOEFL) were analyzed, targeting two global ratings (accentedness, comprehensibility) and 10 linguistic measures (segmental and word stress accuracy, intonation, rhythm, speech rate, grammatical accuracy and complexity, lexical richness and complexity, discourse richness). Linguistic distinctions between accentedness and comprehensibility were less pronounced in the cognitively complex task (TOEFL), with overlapping sets of phonology, lexis, and grammar variables contributing to listener ratings of accentedness and comprehensibility. This finding points to multifaceted, task-specific relationships between these two constructs.
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Strachan, Lauren, Sara Kennedy, and Pavel Trofimovich. "Second language speakers’ awareness of their own comprehensibility." Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 5, no. 3 (March 14, 2019): 347–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.18008.str.
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Abstract This study investigated whether second language (L2) speakers are aware of and can manipulate aspects of their speech contributing to comprehensibility. Forty Mandarin speakers of L2 English performed two versions of the same oral task. Before the second task, half of the speakers were asked to make their speech as easy for the interlocutor to understand as possible, while the other half received no additional prompt. Speakers self-assessed comprehensibility after each task and were interviewed about how they improved their comprehensibility. Native-speaking listeners evaluated speaker performances for five dimensions, rating speech similarly across groups and tasks. Overall, participants did not become more comprehensible from task 1 to task 2, whether prompted or not, nor did speakers’ self-assessments become more in line with raters’, indicating speakers may not be aware of their own comprehensibility. However, speakers who did demonstrate greater improvement in comprehensibility received higher ratings of flow, and speakers’ self-ratings of comprehensibility were aligned with listeners’ assessments only in the second task. When discussing comprehensibility, speakers commented more on task content than linguistic dimensions. Results highlight the roles of task repetition and self-assessment in speakers’ awareness of comprehensibility.
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Murali, Sushmitha, Prakash Boominathan, and Shenbagavalli Mahalingam. "Speech Intelligibility and Speech Naturalness while Speaking with and without Medical Mask." Journal of Indian Speech Language & Hearing Association 37, no. 2 (2023): 51–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/jisha.jisha_15_23.
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Introduction: The COVID-19 situation has led to an increase use of medical mask for protection. Facial and respiratory PPE covering the mouth and nose have been reported to diminish Speech Intelligibility. Altering the volume, rate and volume and rate together may contribute to influencing the speech intelligibility and speech naturalness rating. Therefore, identifying the appropriate method to speak with medical mask can help train people to communicate with mask. This study aimed to (1) analyse effects of wearing masks on speech intelligibility, naturalness and comprehensibility, and (2) document an altered style of speaking to improve speech intelligibility, naturalness and comprehensibility while wearing masks. Method: Cross-over study design was used. Spoken utterances from 14 naïve speakers were recorded with and without medical mask, and speech in typical style, increased volume (loudness), reduced rate, and mixed method (combination of increased loudness and reduced rate) with medical mask was recorded from 12 professional speakers. Two expert listeners rated the naïve speakers, and two naïve listeners rated professional speakers using standard rating scales of speech intelligibility and naturalness. Percentage of correct identification of utterance was calculated as a measure of comprehensibility. Wilcoxon signed rank test and Friedman test were used to report significant differences among conditions and parameters analysed. Results: Speech intelligibility, naturalness and comprehensibility was poorer while speaking with medical mask than without them. Speaking in mixed method (combination of increased loudness and reduced rate), while using medical masks was the most appropriate style of speech in order to be intelligible, natural and comprehensible, followed by increased loudness style, typical style and reduced rate style. Conclusion: People should be alerted that wearing mask leads to reduction in speech intelligibility, comprehensibility and naturalness. These can be improved by modifying the style of speaking.
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Saito, Kazuya, and Yuka Akiyama. "Linguistic correlates of comprehensibility in second language Japanese speech." Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 3, no. 2 (December 4, 2017): 199–217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.3.2.02sai.
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This study examined phonological, temporal, lexical and grammatical correlates of native speakers’ perception of second language (L2) comprehensibility (i.e., ease of understanding). L2 learners of Japanese with various proficiency levels engaged in oral picture description tasks which were judged by native speaking raters for comprehensibility, and then submitted to pronunciation, fluency, and lexicogrammar analyses. According to correlation analyses and linear mixed-models, the native speaking judges’ comprehensibility ratings were significantly linked not only with actual usage of words in context (lexical appropriateness) but also with the surface details of words (pitch accent, speech rate, lexical variation). Similar to previous L2 English studies (e.g., Isaacs & Trofimovich, 2012), the influence of segmental and morphological errors in the comprehensibility of L2 Japanese speech appeared to be minor.
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Derwing, Tracey M., Erin Waugh, and Murray J. Munro. "Pragmatically speaking." Applied Pragmatics 3, no. 2 (October 6, 2021): 107–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ap.20001.der.
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Abstract The relationship between second language (L2) comprehensibility and pragmatics is explored in two experiments involving instruction of speech acts to learners enrolled in a Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada program. The study was designed to determine whether improved pragmatic competence results in enhanced comprehensibility (how easy L2 speech is to understand). Two intact classes participated; one received 25 hours of pragmatics instruction, while the control group received the standard curriculum (no focus on pragmatics). Both classes were recorded in role-plays based on several scenarios at pre- and post-test. Transcriptions of the role-plays were coded according to a rubric; although the control group showed superior performance at the outset, the experimental group’s scores exceeded those of the Control group at post-test with a medium effect size. A subset of pre- and posttest role-plays (two refusals and two requests) were randomly assigned to 56 native English listeners who rated the speech samples for social appropriateness, comprehensibility, and fluency. The experimental group’s posttest productions on all scenarios were perceived as significantly more socially appropriate, with three scenarios showing significant improvement in comprehensibility. Although one scenario improved in fluency, another showed a decline. The results suggest that pragmatics instruction enhances L2 speech comprehensibility.
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Park, Seongjin, and John Culnan. "Automatic proficiency judgments: Accentedness, fluency, and comprehensibility." Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 150, no. 4 (October 2021): A357. http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/10.0008582.
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The goal of the present study is to investigate whether computational models can approximate human perceptual judgments of accentedness, fluency, and comprehensibility in non-native speech using low-level acoustic features and speech rhythm features. Previous studies have used the results of automatic speech recognition systems, such as word error rate, as features to automatically measure speakers’ accentedness or fluency. However, in the present study, we aim to build automatic perceptual judgment model for lexically constrained speech using only audio vectors (wav2vec), acoustic features, and durational features. The results show that a neural network model could make predictions on speakers’ proficiency using limited features, and that low-level acoustic features can take the place of suprasegmental features when these are not explicitly included in a given feature set. In addition, the results demonstrate that acoustic features are more useful when predicting accentedness of speech, while durational features are more useful when predicting fluency.
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Bejarano, Javier. "Comprehensibility of conventional and nonconventional expressions in second language French speech." Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics 27, no. 1 (March 15, 2024): 78–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2024.33247.
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This study investigates the effect of conventional and nonconventional expressions on listener comprehensibility. A forty-item comprehensibility test, including conventional expressions, interlanguage attempts, sociopragmatic deviances and alternative grammar constructions produced by French L2 (second language) speakers (N=27) was created. Pronunciation effects were controlled by having a single speaker read aloud the items. Using a 100-point sliding scale, comprehensibility was rated by Quebec French L1 (first language) speakers (N=34). Results showed a significant effect of the four variables on the raters’ scores and a significant difference between them. Conventional expressions were judged the most comprehensible while some alternative grammar constructions seemed not to impose comprehensibility issues. Attempted conventional expressions sharing pragmalinguistics or sociopragmatic resources with the target conventional expression were judged more comprehensible. These findings suggest that comprehensibility can be sensitive to what is familiar and expected by the listener.
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M.A., Kolesnichenko. "SPEECH PERCEPTION SPECIFICS OF RUSSIA’S AND CHINA’S ELF SPEAKERS." Humanities And Social Studies In The Far East 17, no. 1 (2020): 43–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.31079/1992-2868-2020-17-1-43-51.
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English as a lingua franca has many regional realizations differentiated by specific features, pronunciation included. The research focuses on the problem of accented English speech perception between Russian and Chinese ELF speakers. Two questions are raised: 1) establishing the correlation between intelligibility and comprehensibility in perception of the accented English speech; 2) describing types of phonological transfer that have an impact on intelligibility and comprehensibility. After analyzing the data, we conclude that phonological transfer is the main reason of intelligibility and comprehensibility barriers in ELF perception between Chinese and Russian ELF speakers and the features that complicate the understanding of speech are largely related to the cultural and linguistic heritage deeply rooted in the national identity of the ELF speakers.
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Yang, In Young. "Information Packaging Benefit in L2 Speech Comprehensibility." SNU Journal of Education Research 28, no. 3 (September 30, 2019): 63–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.54346/sjer.2019.28.3.63.
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Vaughn, Charlotte, and Aubrey Whitty. "Investigating the relationship between comprehensibility and social evaluation." 25 years of Intelligibility, Comprehensibility and Accentedness 6, no. 3 (September 10, 2020): 483–504. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.20022.vau.
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Abstract The processing fluency hypothesis proposes that listeners’ perceived difficulty processing the speech of L2 speakers (called comprehensibility/processing fluency) leads them to downgrade those speakers socially. In this paper, we investigate this relationship, focusing on context-specificity. L1-English listeners provided comprehensibility and social evaluation ratings of L1-Korean speakers speaking English, while an orthographic depiction of the speech either appeared alongside the audio or did not, a manipulation aiming to affect comprehensibility. Varying orthography between subjects, Experiment 1 found that orthography resulted in greater comprehensibility, but not more positive social evaluations. Experiment 2 manipulated orthography within subjects, varying context: orthography trials were presented first or last. Comprehensibility and social evaluation ratings were related only when orthography was first, suggesting a conditional, asymmetrical relationship where listeners more readily downgrade than upgrade the same speaker when orthography changes. Our results highlight the context-dependent nature of these constructs, limiting the generalizability of the processing fluency hypothesis.
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Petrochuk, N. O. "Perception of the English speech of Ukrainians by non-native speakers." MESSENGER of Kyiv National Linguistic University. Series Philology 25, no. 2 (March 14, 2023): 81–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.32589/2311-0821.2.2022.274930.
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The article presents the results of the research on the English speech of Ukrainians and its perception by non-native speakers of English. The focus is on the phenomenon of the foreign accented speech and the claim that due to interference of two or more language systems in the consciousness of the speaker, the speech, which is produced and is the result of long-term mastering of the foreign language, is imbued with a foreign accent. A foreign accent is a language learner’s speech characteristic. It has certain features on segmental and suprasegmental levels which distinguish it from the speech of the native speaker, marking its owner as a ‘foreigner’. These features are studied in order to improve further learning of the language and help learners to avoid potential mistakes that impede their communication and forge a negative image in the eye of a listener. To study the perception of foreign speech three main dimensions are singled out: degree of foreign accent, or degree of accentedness, speech comprehensibility and speech intelligibility. The degree of accentedness measures the level of the foreign accent of the speaker by the listener, which ranges from a slight accent to a strong accent. Comprehensibility measures whether the message is understood as a whole, whereas intelligibility is responsible for the recognition of specific words or phrases. Following these criteria, the speech of ten Ukrainians is analyzed by 47 non-native speakers of English. It is concluded that the lower the rate of an accent is, the higher the comprehensibility of the message gets. Although some instances of a strong accent and high comprehensibility are encountered too.
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Gordon, Joshua, and Isabelle Darcy. "The development of comprehensible speech in L2 learners." Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 2, no. 1 (March 31, 2016): 56–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.2.1.03gor.
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Developing comprehensible speech is an important goal for L2 learners. At present, there is clear evidence indicating that pronunciation instruction can help develop comprehensibility compared to no instruction at all (see Thomson & Derwing, 2015, for a review). However, it is unclear whether rapid improvements can be obtained through explicit pronunciation instruction. This study investigated the effects of explicit and nonexplicit instruction in the development of comprehensible speech in ESL learners. Three groups (n = 12) received about four hours of pronunciation instruction over three weeks using the same teaching sequence. Groups differed in the type of explicit instruction received: two experimental groups received explicit instruction either on suprasegmental features or four vowel sounds. The same content was presented to the third group without explicit instruction. Speech samples collected from all L2 learners before and after treatment revealed an effect of explicit instruction on comprehensibility: the group instructed in suprasegmentals was rated as more comprehensible. No significant improvement was seen in the nonexplicit group. These results suggest that focusing on suprasegmental aspects seems to be most effective for comprehensibility when time is limited, and argue for a major role for explicit phonetic instruction in developing enhanced comprehensibility (e.g., Derwing, Munro, & Wiebe, 1998; Munro, 1995).
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Saito, Kazuya, Mai Tran, Yui Suzukida, Hui Sun, Viktoria Magne, and Meltem Ilkan. "HOW DO SECOND LANGUAGE LISTENERS PERCEIVE THE COMPREHENSIBILITY OF FOREIGN-ACCENTED SPEECH?" Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41, no. 5 (May 16, 2019): 1133–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0272263119000226.
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AbstractThe current study examines how second language (L2) users differentially assess the comprehensibility (i.e., ease of understanding) of foreign-accented speech according to a range of background variables, including first language (L1) profiles, L2 proficiency, age, experience, familiarity, and metacognition. A total of 110 L2 listeners first evaluated the global comprehensibility of 50 spontaneous speech samples produced by low-, mid-, and high-proficiency Japanese speakers of English. The listeners were categorized into two subgroups according to a cluster analysis of their rating scores: lenient and strict. Results showed that while the lenient listeners appeared to rely equally on many linguistic areas of speech during their judgments, the strict listeners were strongly attuned to phonological accuracy. Analysis of the background questionnaire data revealed that more lenient listeners likely had higher levels of awareness of the importance of comprehensibility for communication (metacognition); regularly used L2 English in professional settings (experience); and had L1s more linguistically close to the target speech samples, Japanese-accented English (L1-L2 distance).
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Appel, Randy, Pavel Trofimovich, Kazuya Saito, Talia Isaacs, and Stuart Webb. "Lexical aspects of comprehensibility and nativeness from the perspective of native-speaking English raters." ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics 170, no. 1 (April 5, 2019): 24–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/itl.17026.app.
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Abstract This study analyzed the contribution of lexical factors to native-speaking raters’ assessments of comprehensibility and nativeness in second language (L2) speech. Using transcribed samples to reduce non-lexical sources of bias, 10 naïve L1 English raters evaluated speech samples from 97 L2 English learners across two tasks (picture description and TOEFL integrated). Subsequently, the 194 transcripts were analyzed through statistical software (e.g., Coh-metrix, VocabProfile) for 29 variables spanning various lexical dimensions. For the picture description task, separation in lexical correlates of the two constructs was found, with distinct lexical measures tied to comprehensibility and nativeness. In the TOEFL integrated task, comprehensibility and nativeness were largely indistinguishable, with identical sets of lexical variables, covering dimensions of diversity and range. Findings are discussed in relation to the acquisition, assessment, and teaching of lexical properties in L2 speech.
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Munro, Murray J., and Tracey M. Derwing. "Foreign accent, comprehensibility and intelligibility, redux." 25 years of Intelligibility, Comprehensibility and Accentedness 6, no. 3 (August 31, 2020): 283–309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.20038.mun.
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Abstract We revisit Munro and Derwing (1995a), providing retrospective commentary on our original methods and findings. Using what are now well-established assessment techniques, the study examined the interrelationships among accentedness, comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speech of second-language learners. The key finding was that the dimensions at issue are related, but partially independent. Of particular note was our observation that speech can be heavily accented but highly intelligible. To provide a fresh perspective on the original data we report a few new analyses, including more up-to-date statistical modeling. Throughout the original text we intersperse insights we have gained over the past 25 years. We conclude with retrospective interpretations, including thoughts on the relevance of the study to contemporary second language teaching and especially pronunciation instruction.
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SAITO, KAZUYA, STUART WEBB, PAVEL TROFIMOVICH, and TALIA ISAACS. "Lexical correlates of comprehensibility versus accentedness in second language speech." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 19, no. 3 (June 17, 2015): 597–609. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1366728915000255.
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The current project investigated the extent to which several lexical aspects of second language (L2) speech – appropriateness, fluency, variation, sophistication, abstractness, sense relations – interact to influence native speakers’ judgements of comprehensibility (ease of understanding) and accentedness (linguistic nativelikeness). Extemporaneous speech elicited from 40 French speakers of English with varied L2 proficiency levels was first evaluated by 10 native-speaking raters for comprehensibility and accentedness. Subsequently, the dataset was transcribed and analyzed for 12 lexical factors. Various lexical properties of L2 speech were found to be associated with L2 comprehensibility, and especially lexical accuracy (lemma appropriateness) and complexity (polysemy), indicating that these lexical variables are associated with successful L2 communication. In contrast, native speakers’ accent judgements seemed to be linked to surface-level details of lexical content (abstractness) and form (variation, morphological accuracy) rather than to its conceptual and contextual details (e.g., lemma appropriateness, polysemy).
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SAITO, KAZUYA, PAVEL TROFIMOVICH, and TALIA ISAACS. "Second language speech production: Investigating linguistic correlates of comprehensibility and accentedness for learners at different ability levels." Applied Psycholinguistics 37, no. 2 (February 2, 2015): 217–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0142716414000502.
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ABSTRACTThe current project aimed to investigate the potentially different linguistic correlates of comprehensibility (i.e., ease of understanding) and accentedness (i.e., linguistic nativelikeness) in adult second language (L2) learners’ extemporaneous speech production. Timed picture descriptions from 120 beginner, intermediate, and advanced Japanese learners of English were analyzed using native speaker global judgments based on learners’ comprehensibility and accentedness, and then submitted to segmental, prosodic, temporal, lexical, and grammatical analyses. Results showed that comprehensibility was related to all linguistic domains, and accentedness was strongly tied with pronunciation (specifically segmentals) rather than lexical and grammatical domains. In particular, linguistic correlates of L2 comprehensibility and accentedness were found to vary by learners’ proficiency levels. In terms of comprehensibility, optimal rate of speech, appropriate and rich vocabulary use, and adequate and varied prosody were important for beginner to intermediate levels, whereas segmental accuracy, good prosody, and correct grammar featured strongly for intermediate to advanced levels. For accentedness, grammatical complexity was a feature of intermediate to high-level performance, whereas segmental and prosodic variables were essential to accentedness across all levels. These findings suggest that syllabi tailored to learners’ proficiency level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced) and learning goal (comprehensibility or nativelike accent) would be advantageous for the teaching of L2 speaking.
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Simon, Ellen, Chloé Lybaert, and Koen Plevoets. "Social attitudes, intelligibility and comprehensibility: The role of the listener in the perception of non-native speech." Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, no. 19 (January 21, 2022): 177–222. http://dx.doi.org/10.35869/vial.v0i19.3763.
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This study investigates the role of the listener in the perception of non-native speakers and their speech. Our goal is to examine the impact of listener characteristics on their attitudes towards non-native speakers and their speech. In addition, we aim to explore the relationship between listeners’ attitudes and the intelligibility, comprehensibility and perceived foreign accentedness of non-native speech. 126 participants living in Flanders, Belgium, completed a questionnaire probing their attitudes towards non-native speakers of Dutch. An analysis of background variables of these listeners revealed that their age, educational level, extent of contact with non-native speakers and especially political preference could predict their responses to questionnaire items. In a subsequent session, participants performed (a) a speaker/speech evaluation task, (b) a transcription task measuring intelligibility, and (c) a comprehensibility and accentedness rating task. This latter session required participants to transcribe and evaluate speech samples of Dutch produced by speakers of Mandarin Chinese. We found a significant correlation between comprehensibility and accentedness and a number of attitudinal dimensions, such as the perceived status of, and solidarity with, the speaker. The study has implications for language testing, as it demonstrates the impact of listeners’ social attitudes on the assessment of non-native speech.
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Nagle, Charles L., and Amanda Huensch. "Expanding the scope of L2 intelligibility research." 25 years of Intelligibility, Comprehensibility and Accentedness 6, no. 3 (July 7, 2020): 329–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.20009.nag.
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Abstract This study investigated relationships among intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness in the speech of L2 learners of Spanish who completed a prompted response speaking task. Thirty native Spanish listeners from Spain were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk to transcribe and rate extracted utterances, which were also coded for grammatical and phonemic errors, and speaking rate. Descriptively, although most utterances were intelligible, their comprehensibility and accentedness varied substantially. Mixed-effects modeling showed that comprehensibility was significantly associated with intelligibility whereas accentedness was not. Additionally, phonemic and grammatical errors were significant predictors of intelligibility and comprehensibility, but only phonemic errors were significantly related to accentedness. Overall, phonemic errors displayed a stronger negative association with the listener-based dimensions than grammatical errors. These findings suggest that English-speaking learners of Spanish are not as uniformly intelligible and comprehensible as FL instructors might believe and shed light on relationships among speech constructs in an L2 other than English.
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Levis, John. "Changes in L2 pronunciation." 25 years of Intelligibility, Comprehensibility and Accentedness 6, no. 3 (November 25, 2020): 277–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.20054.lev.
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Abstract This special issue revisits an extraordinarily influential paper for L2 pronunciation research and teaching (Munro & Derwing, 1995) by looking again at the original paper with new eyes and new analyses. The special issue also includes invited papers addressing current approaches based on the three key constructs in Munro and Derwing (1995): Intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness. Papers in the issue include a reconsideration of the Intelligibility and Nativeness principles from Levis (2005), applications of the constructs to L2 Spanish (Nagle & Huensch), a consideration of how everyday L2 use affects comprehensibility (Zielinski & Pryor), long-term effects of intensive instruction (French, Gagné & Collins), influences on listener reaction to L2 speech (Isaacs & Thomson), empirical evidence for the dynamic nature of comprehensibility (Trofimovich et al.), a study on ELF intelligibility and functional load considerations (Thir), the relationship between comprehensibility and social evaluation of speech (Vaughn & Whitty), and one book review.
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Zielinski, Beth, and Elizabeth Pryor. "Comprehensibility andeveryday English use." 25 years of Intelligibility, Comprehensibility and Accentedness 6, no. 3 (August 4, 2020): 352–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.20011.zie.
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Abstract In this longitudinal study we tracked change in comprehensibility and English use over a 10-month period in 14 L2 English learners (8 beginner, 6 intermediate) settling in Australia. They were interviewed 4 times during the 10 months as part of a larger longitudinal study. English use was reported at each interview using a language map and excerpts from recordings of Interviews 1 and 4 were rated for comprehensibility. Intermediate participants tended to be more comprehensible and maintain a higher level of English use over time than the beginners. Exploration of individual variation revealed a range of comprehensibility outcomes, the variable and non-linear nature of English use trajectories, and a possible relationship between comprehensibility change and English use for some participants. Important methodological implications for future studies relate to the measurement of comprehensibility and English use, the speech samples used for comprehensibility ratings, and the importance of individual variation.
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Saito, Kazuya, Jean-Marc Dewaele, and Keiko Hanzawa. "A Longitudinal Investigation of the Relationship between Motivation and Late Second Language Speech Learning in Classroom Settings." Language and Speech 60, no. 4 (February 14, 2017): 614–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0023830916687793.
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The current study set out to examine the role of learner motivation in second language (L2) speech learning in English-as-a-Foreign-Language classrooms. The motivational orientations of 40 first-year university Japanese students were surveyed via a tailored questionnaire and linked to their spontaneous speech development, elicited via a timed picture description task at the onset and end of one academic semester, in terms of perceived comprehensibility (i.e., ease of understanding) and accentedness (i.e., linguistic nativelikeness). Significant improvement in comprehensibility (but not accentedness) was found among certain individuals. These students likely showed a strong motivation to study English for their future career development as a vague and long-term goal, as well as a high degree of concern for improving comprehensibility, grammatical accuracy and complexity.
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Trofimovich, Pavel, Charles L. Nagle, Mary Grantham O’Brien, Sara Kennedy, Kym Taylor Reid, and Lauren Strachan. "Second language comprehensibility as a dynamic construct." 25 years of Intelligibility, Comprehensibility and Accentedness 6, no. 3 (July 8, 2020): 430–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.20003.tro.
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Abstract This study examined longitudinal changes in second language (L2) interlocutors’ mutual comprehensibility ratings (perceived ease of understanding speech), targeting comprehensibility as a dynamic, time-varying, interaction-centered construct. In a repeated-measures, within-participants design, 20 pairs of L2 English university students from different language backgrounds engaged in three collaborative and interactive tasks over 17 minutes, rating their partner’s comprehensibility at 2–3 minute intervals using 100-millimeter scales (seven ratings per interlocutor). Mutual comprehensibility ratings followed a U-shaped function over time, with comprehensibility (initially perceived to be high) being affected by task complexity but then reaching high levels by the end of the interaction. The interlocutors’ ratings also became more similar to each other early on and remained aligned throughout the interaction. These findings demonstrate the dynamic nature of comprehensibility between L2 interlocutors and suggest the need for L2 comprehensibility research to account for the effects of interaction, task, and time on comprehensibility measurements.
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Venkatagiri, H. S., and John M. Levis. "Phonological Awareness and Speech Comprehensibility: An Exploratory Study." Language Awareness 16, no. 4 (November 15, 2007): 263–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.2167/la417.0.
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Yoder, Paul J., Tiffany Woynaroski, and Stephen Camarata. "Measuring Speech Comprehensibility in Students with Down Syndrome." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 59, no. 3 (June 2016): 460–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/2015_jslhr-s-15-0149.
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Derwing, Tracey M., and Murray J. Munro. "ACCENT, INTELLIGIBILITY, AND COMPREHENSIBILITY." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19, no. 1 (March 1997): 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0272263197001010.
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This study was designed to extend previous research on the relationships among intelligibility, perceived comprehensibility, and accentedness. Accent and comprehensibility ratings and transcriptions of accented speech from Cantonese, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish intermediate ESL students were obtained from 26 native English listeners. The listeners were also asked to identify the first language backgrounds of the same talkers and to provide information on their familiarity with the four accents used in this study. When the results of this study were compared with the Munro and Derwing (1995, Language Learning, 45, 73–97) study of learners of high proficiency, speaker proficiency level did not appear to affect the quasi-independent relationships among intelligibility, perceived comprehensibility, and accentedness; however, the relative contributions of grammatical and phonemic errors and goodness of prosody differed somewhat. Ability to identify the speakers' first languages was influenced by familiarity.
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Jułkowska, Izabela Anna, and Juli Cebrian. "Effects of listener factors and stimulus properties on the intelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness of L2 speech." Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 1, no. 2 (September 14, 2015): 211–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.1.2.04jul.
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The intelligibility, comprehensibility and foreign accentedness of native and Polish-accented English sentences were evaluated by six Polish, six Spanish and six English speakers. The nonnative data were also analyzed for segmental and word stress errors. Results indicated that the three measures were partially independent of one another, supporting earlier findings that accented speech can be intelligible and comprehensible. An interlanguage speech intelligibility detriment was observed for Spanish listeners, but no clear evidence of an interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit was found, as nonnative listeners never outperformed native listeners. The number of segmental errors, rather than lexical stress errors, was found to correlate with comprehensibility and accentedness ratings of nonnative speech, but not with intelligibility scores. In general, the results point to a greater effect of stimulus properties than of listeners’ L1s in the perception of nonnative speech.
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Behrman, Alison, and Ali Akhund. "The Influence of Semantic Context on the Perception of Spanish-Accented American English." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 56, no. 5 (October 2013): 1567–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2013/12-0192).
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Purpose In this article, the authors examine (a) the effect of semantic context on accentedness, comprehensibility, and intelligibility of Spanish-accented American English (AE) as judged by monolingual AE listeners and (b) the interaction of semantic context and accentedness on comprehensibility and intelligibility. Method Twenty adult native (L1) Spanish speakers proficient in AE and 4 L1 AE speakers (controls) read 48 statements consisting of true–false, semantically meaningful, and semantically anomalous sentences. Eighty monolingual AE listeners assessed accentedness, comprehensibility, and intelligibility of the statements. Results A significant main effect was found for semantic category on all 3 dependent variables. Accents were perceived to be stronger, and both comprehensibility and intelligibility were worse, in semantically anomalous contexts. Speaker data were grouped into strong, mid-level, and mild accents. The interaction between semantic category and accent was significant for both comprehensibility and intelligibility. The effect of semantic context was strongest for strong accents. Intelligibility was excellent for speakers with mid-level accents in true–false and semantically meaningful contexts, and it was excellent for mild accents in all contexts. Conclusions Listeners access semantic information, in addition to phonetic and phonotactic features, in the perception of nonnative speech. Both accent level and semantic context are important in research on foreign-accented speech.
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Podlipský, Václav Jonáš, Šárka Šimáčková, and David Petráž. "Is there an interlanguage speech credibility benefit?" Topics in Linguistics 17, no. 1 (June 1, 2016): 30–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/topling-2016-0003.
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Abstract Some (though not all) previous studies have documented the interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit (ISIB), i.e. the greater intelligibility of non-native (relative to native) speech to non-native listeners as compared to native listeners. Moreover, some studies (again not all) found that native listeners consider foreign-accented statements as less truthful than native-sounding ones. We join these two lines of research, asking whether foreign-accented statements sound more credible to non-native than to native listeners and whether difficult-to-process (less comprehensible) utterances are less credible. In two experiments we measure the intelligibility, comprehensibility and credibility of native and foreign-accented statements for native listeners and non-native listeners matched or mismatched in L1 with non-native talkers. We find an ISIB in both matched and mismatched non-native listeners, and an analogous matched comprehensibility benefit. However, we obtain no evidence of an interlanguage speech credibility benefit. Instead, both matched and mismatched non-native listeners tend to trust native statements more (i.e. statements produced by their target-language models). For native listeners, we do not confirm the tendency to mistrust non-native statements, but we do find a moderate correlation between the comprehensibility and credibility of foreign-accented utterances, giving limited support to the hypothesis that decreased perceptual fluency leads to decreased credibility.
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O’Brien, Mary Grantham. "METHODOLOGICAL CHOICES IN RATING SPEECH SAMPLES." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 38, no. 3 (November 26, 2015): 587–605. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0272263115000418.
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Much pronunciation research critically relies upon listeners’ judgments of speech samples, but researchers have rarely examined the impact of methodological choices. In the current study, 30 German native listeners and 42 German L2 learners (L1 English) rated speech samples produced by English-German L2 learners along three continua: accentedness, fluency, and comprehensibility. The goal was to determine whether rating condition, that is, (a) whether each speech sample is rated along all three continua after it is heard once or (b) whether all speech samples are rated along one continuum before being rated along the next continuum, and continuum order (e.g., whether participants rate speech samples for accentedness before comprehensibility or fluency) have an effect on listeners’ ratings. Results indicate no significant overall effects of rating condition or continuum order, but there is evidence of rating condition effects by listener group. The results have implications for laboratory and classroom assessments of L2 speech.
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Nagle, Charles, Pavel Trofimovich, and Annie Bergeron. "TOWARD A DYNAMIC VIEW OF SECOND LANGUAGE COMPREHENSIBILITY." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41, no. 04 (March 12, 2019): 647–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0272263119000044.
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AbstractThis study took a dynamic approach to second language (L2) comprehensibility, examining how listeners construct comprehensibility profiles for L2 Spanish speakers during the listening task and what features enhance or diminish comprehensibility. Listeners were 24 native Spanish speakers who evaluated 2–5 minute audio clips recorded by three university-level L2 Spanish speakers responding to two prompts. Listeners rated comprehensibility dynamically, using Idiodynamic Software to upgrade or downgrade comprehensibility over the course of the listening task. Dynamic ratings for one audio clip were video-captured for stimulated recall, and listeners were interviewed to understand which aspects of L2 speech were associated with enhanced versus diminished comprehensibility. Results indicated that clips that were downgraded more often received lower global ratings but upgrading was not associated with higher ratings. Certain problematic features and individual episodes caused listeners’ impressions to converge, though substantial individual variation among listeners was evident.
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Binger, Cathy, Jamie Ragsdale, and Aimee Bustos. "Language Sampling for Preschoolers With Severe Speech Impairments." American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 25, no. 4 (November 2016): 493–507. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/2016_ajslp-15-0100.
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Purpose The purposes of this investigation were to determine if measures such as mean length of utterance (MLU) and percentage of comprehensible words can be derived reliably from language samples of children with severe speech impairments and if such measures correlate with tools that measure constructs assumed to be related. Method Language samples of 15 preschoolers with severe speech impairments (but receptive language within normal limits) were transcribed independently by 2 transcribers. Nonparametric statistics were used to determine which measures, if any, could be transcribed reliably and to determine if correlations existed between language sample measures and standardized measures of speech, language, and cognition. Results Reliable measures were extracted from the majority of the language samples, including MLU in words, mean number of syllables per utterance, and percentage of comprehensible words. Language sample comprehensibility measures were correlated with a single word comprehensibility task. Also, language sample MLUs and mean length of the participants' 3 longest sentences from the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Fenson et al., 2006) were correlated. Conclusion Language sampling, given certain modifications, may be used for some 3-to 5-year-old children with normal receptive language who have severe speech impairments to provide reliable expressive language and comprehensibility information.
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Poljak, Livia. "Trends in Accentedness and Comprehensibility Research, with Respect of L2 Speech Ratings." SFU Educational Review 12, no. 2 (July 31, 2019): 36–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.21810/sfuer.v12i2.929.
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Accentedness and comprehensibility research has greatly evolved since its infancy in in the 1980s. As language learner trends have shifted from native-like mastery to being comprehensible to listeners, a broader range of factors, such as speaker rates, and lexical/grammatical measures have since been evaluated for research and pedagogical purposes. This paper attempts the break down the major methodological procedures used in accentedness and comprehensibility research, chiefly, by examining the types of speakers and listeners that are most commonly present in studies, the types of stimuli and rating methods, the various features of accentedness and comprehensibility and listener attitudes, to name a few. Finally, this review briefly highlights what new components should be added in order to further our understanding in this field, both for academic interest and practical pedagogical purposes.
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Chen, Hsueh Chu, and Qian Wang. "The effects of Hong Kong L2 English speakers’ phonological features on listeners’ cognitive and affective perceptions." Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 42, no. 1 (July 4, 2019): 84–115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/aral.18010.che.
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Abstract This study explores the most perceivable phonological features of Hong Kong (HK) L2 English speakers and how they affect the perception of HK L2 English speech from the perspective of both native and non-native English listeners. Conversational interviews were conducted to collect speech data from 20 HK speakers of English and 10 native speakers of English in the United Kingdom. Phonological features of 20 HK speakers of English were analyzed at both segmental and suprasegmental levels. Forty listeners with different language backgrounds were recruited to listen and rate the speech samples of the 20 HK speakers of English in terms of the cognitive perception of foreign accentedness and comprehensibility and affective perception of likability and acceptability. This study identifies the phonological variables that contribute significantly to listeners’ perception of accentedness, comprehensibility, likability, acceptability, and overall impression of HK speakers’ English speech.
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Trofimovich, Pavel, Sara Kennedy, and Josée Blanchet. "Development of Second Language French Oral Skills in an Instructed Setting: A Focus on Speech Ratings." Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics 20, no. 2 (December 5, 2017): 32–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1042675ar.
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This study examined the relationship between targeted pronunciation instruction in French as a second language (L2) and listener-based ratings of accent, comprehensibility, and fluency. The ratings by 20 French listeners evaluating the speech of 30 adult L2 French learners enrolled in a 15-week listening and speaking course targeting segments, prosody, fluency, and connected speech processes (e.g., liaison, enchainment) were compared before and after instruction in read-aloud and extemporaneous (picture description) speaking tasks. Results showed that the learners improved in all speech ratings, especially in extemporaneous speaking. Results also revealed that accent ratings were linked to prosody (intonation accuracy, pitch range), while fluency and comprehensibility ratings were additionally linked to fluency phenomena (length of fluent run, hesitation rate). These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for L2 pronunciation learning and links between instruction, listener-rated dimensions of speech, and performance in different tasks.
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Crowther, Dustin. "Rating L2 speaker comprehensibility on monologic vs. interactive tasks." Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 6, no. 1 (February 13, 2020): 96–121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.19019.cro.
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Abstract Second language (L2) scholars generally agree that pronunciation development should prioritize understandable over nativelike speech. However, which linguistic features enable understanding lacks clarity. While monologic research indicates a combined effect of segmental and suprasegmental measures, interactive research has emphasized a segmental focus. The current study takes a step in addressing this divide by applying a monologic methodology to interactive speech. 20 L2 English learners completed one interactive and three monologic tasks. 36 native listeners rated each speaker per task for comprehensibility. I additionally coded all utterances for a series of phonological and fluency measures. Surprisingly, segmental and suprasegmental measures had minimal impact on listerners’ ratings. Instead, ratings for the two more linguistically-constrained monologic tasks demonstrated stronger associations with fluency measures than the less-constrained monologic and interactive tasks. This finding is likely an effect of (a) increased cognitive task demands placed on speakers, and (b) listener familiarity with L2 English speech.
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TROFIMOVICH, PAVEL, TALIA ISAACS, SARA KENNEDY, KAZUYA SAITO, and DUSTIN CROWTHER. "Flawed self-assessment: Investigating self- and other-perception of second language speech." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 19, no. 1 (December 29, 2014): 122–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1366728914000832.
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This study targeted the relationship between self- and other-assessment of accentedness and comprehensibility in second language (L2) speech, extending prior social and cognitive research documenting weak or non-existing links between people's self-assessment and objective measures of performance. Results of two experiments (N = 134) revealed mostly inaccurate self-assessment: speakers at the low end of the accentedness and comprehensibility scales overestimated their performance; speakers at the high end of each scale underestimated it. For both accent and comprehensibility, discrepancies in self- versus other-assessment were associated with listener-rated measures of phonological accuracy and temporal fluency but not with listener-rated measures of lexical appropriateness and richness, grammatical accuracy and complexity, or discourse structure. Findings suggest that inaccurate self-assessment is linked to the inherent complexity of L2 perception and production as cognitive skills and point to several ways of helping L2 speakers align or calibrate their self-assessment with their actual performance.
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Ludwig, Anja, and Joan C. Mora. "Processing time and comprehensibility judgments in non-native listeners’ perception of L2 speech." Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 3, no. 2 (December 4, 2017): 167–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.3.2.01lud.
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This study investigated the relationship between processing time and comprehensibility judgments in non-native listeners’ perception of L2 speech as a function of an L1- match between speaker and listener and non-native listeners’ proficiency. Instructed L2-English learners differing in L1 (Catalan, German) and L2-proficiency (Low, High), and native-English listeners performed speeded speech processing tasks with English word and sentence stimuli spoken by L1-Catalan, L1-German and native English speakers, and rated the sentence stimuli for comprehensibility. The results showed significant moderate correlations between processing times and comprehensibility judgments mediated by an interaction between listeners’ L1 and their L2 proficiency. Non-native English was processed faster and judged to be more comprehensible by non-native listeners if produced by L1-matched speakers. When non-native English was produced by L1-matched speakers, low-proficiency listeners found it easier to process and understand than native English, whereas high-proficiency listeners showed a processing advantage over native English listeners
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Crowther, Dustin, Pavel Trofimovich, and Talia Isaacs. "Linguistic dimensions of second language accent and comprehensibility." Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 2, no. 2 (August 12, 2016): 160–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.2.2.02cro.
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The current study investigated the effect of listener status (native, nonnative) and language background (French, Mandarin) on global ratings of second language speech. Twenty-six nonnative English listeners representing the two language backgrounds (n = 13 each) rated the comprehensibility and accentedness of 40 French speakers of English. These same speakers were previously rated by native listeners and coded for 19 linguistic measures of speech (e.g., segmental errors, word stress errors, grammar accuracy) in Trofimovich and Isaacs (2012). Analyses indicated no difference in global ratings between nonnative and native listeners, or between the two nonnative listener groups. Similarly, no major differences in the linguistic dimensions associated with each group’s ratings existed. However, analyses of verbal reports for a subset of nonnative listeners (n = 5 per group) demonstrated that each group attributed their ratings to somewhat different linguistic cues.
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Suzuki, Shungo, and Judit Kormos. "LINGUISTIC DIMENSIONS OF COMPREHENSIBILITY AND PERCEIVED FLUENCY: AN INVESTIGATION OF COMPLEXITY, ACCURACY, AND FLUENCY IN SECOND LANGUAGE ARGUMENTATIVE SPEECH." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 42, no. 1 (August 27, 2019): 143–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0272263119000421.
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AbstractThis study examined the linguistic dimensions of comprehensibility and perceived fluency in the context of L2 argumentative speech elicited from 40 Japanese-speaking learners of English. Their speaking performance was judged by 10 inexperienced native speakers of English for comprehensibility and perceived fluency, and was also objectively analyzed in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency as well as pronunciation and discourse features. The results showed that comprehensibility and fluency judgments strongly correlated with each other and that native listeners were significantly more severe when they judged fluency. Furthermore, multiple regression analyses revealed that both constructs were commonly associated with a set of underlying linguistic dimensions (grammatical accuracy, breakdown fluency, and pronunciation). However, comprehensibility was best predicted by articulation rate (speed fluency) whereas perceived fluency was most strongly associated with the frequency of mid-clause pauses (breakdown fluency).
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Kennedy, Sara, Pavel Trofimovich, Rachael Lindberg, and Oguzhan Tekin. "Visual Cues to Speakers’ Religious Affiliation and Listeners’ Understanding of Second Language French Speech." Languages 9, no. 5 (April 24, 2024): 154. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/languages9050154.
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Previous research has shown that speakers’ visual appearance influences listeners’ perception of second language (L2) speech. In Québec, Canada, the context of this study, pandemic mask mandates and a provincial secularism law elicited strong societal reactions. We therefore examined how images of speakers wearing religious and nonreligious coverings such as medical masks and headscarves influenced the comprehensibility (listeners’ ease of understanding) and intelligibility of L2 French speech. Four L2 French women from first language (L1) Arabic backgrounds wore surgical masks while recording 40 sentences from a standardized French-language speech perception test. A total of 104 L1 French listeners transcribed and rated the comprehensibility of the sentences, paired with images of women in four visual conditions: uncovered face, medical mask, hijab (headscarf), and niqab (religious face covering). Listeners also completed a questionnaire on attitudes toward immigrants, cultural values, and secularism. Although intelligibility was high, sentences in the medical mask condition were significantly more intelligible and more comprehensible than those in the niqab condition. Several attitudinal measures showed weak correlations with intelligibility or comprehensibility in several visual conditions. The results suggest that listeners’ understanding of L2 sentences was negatively affected by images showing speakers’ religious affiliation, but more extensive follow-up studies are recommended.
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Doloh, Sunaisah, and Natthapong Chanyoo. "Relationships Between Thai EFL Learners’ Factors, Intelligibility, and Comprehensibility Towards Varieties of English." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 12, no. 1 (January 2, 2022): 46–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1201.06.
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This study aims to investigate intelligibility levels of Thai EFL learners, relationship between intelligibility and learners’ variables, and relationship between intelligibility and comprehensibility scores toward varieties of English. Seventy-five students were recruited as a sample group through stratified random sampling technique. Seven research instruments were used in the study, including a quick placement test, a questionnaire, an intelligibility test, an accent familiarity judgment report, a comprehensibility test, an attitudinal test, and four speech samples produced by speakers of 4 different nationalities. Data were quantitatively analyzed by means of arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s correlation coefficients. The findings revealed that Thai EFL learners received high scores in their intelligibility tests for all speech samples. Thai speaker was rated as the most intelligible to the learners, while American speaker was rated as the least intelligible one. Correlations between intelligibility and other learners’ variables were found only in accent familiarity, language proficiency, and attitude. A significant correlation was also found between intelligibility and comprehensibility scores towards varieties of English of Thai EFL learners.
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Nagle, Charles. "Developing and validating a methodology for crowdsourcing L2 speech ratings in Amazon Mechanical Turk." Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 5, no. 2 (September 17, 2019): 294–323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jslp.18016.nag.
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Abstract Researchers have increasingly turned to Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) to crowdsource speech data, predominantly in English. Although AMT and similar platforms are well positioned to enhance the state of the art in L2 research, it is unclear if crowdsourced L2 speech ratings are reliable, particularly in languages other than English. The present study describes the development and deployment of an AMT task to crowdsource comprehensibility, fluency, and accentedness ratings for L2 Spanish speech samples. Fifty-four AMT workers who were native Spanish speakers from 11 countries participated in the ratings. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to estimate group-level interrater reliability, and Rasch analyses were undertaken to examine individual differences in rater severity and fit. Excellent reliability was observed for the comprehensibility and fluency ratings, but indices were slightly lower for accentedness, leading to recommendations to improve the task for future data collection.