METHODOLOGICAL CHOICES IN RATING SPEECH SAMPLES

Abstract

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.