Evaluating the effects of bilingual dominance and language mode on overall degree of foreign accent

Abstract

This study evaluated the influence of bilingual dominance and language mode on overall degree of perceived foreign accent. Three groups of Italian–English bilinguals (n=12 each) were selected according to their ratio of self-rated English/Italian proficiency: English-dominant, balanced, or Italian-dominant. Language mode was manipulated by having participants repeat English phrases before and after similar Italian phrases (E1, E2) and then intermixed with Italian phrases (E3). Native English (NE) listeners rated four English phrases spoken by the bilinguals and 12 age-matched NE controls using a scale that ranged from 1 (strong foreign accent) to 9 (no foreign accent). We hypothesized that if switching into the native language (here, Italian) adversely affects pronunciation of the second language (English), the third repetitions of the English phrases (E3) should be more strongly foreign-accented than the first repetitions (E1). The foreign accent ratings decreased significantly in the following order: NE > English-dominant > balanced > Italian-dominant. That is, all three bilingual groups had detectable foreign accents, and strength of accent depended on bilingual dominance. The language mode effect was significant only for one of the four phrases examined, perhaps because it (mozzarella cheese) has distinctly different phonetic renditions in English and Italian. [Work supported by NIH.]