Non‐native speakers can gauge degree of foreign accent in English

Abstract

Previous research indicated that non‐native speakers can detect foreign accent in their second language (L2), even if they themselves speak it with an accent. This study used interval scaling to help determine whether they do so by noting native‐language (L1) phones in the L2, or by noting divergences from norms established for phones in the L2. English sentences spoken by Chinese and native English talkers were presented to three groups of listeners. The Chinese listeners, who spoke English with strong foreign accents, were able to distinguish Chinese from native talkers. Those experienced in English resembled native English listeners significantly more than those who were relatively inexperienced, suggesting the experienced Chinese listeners had developed tacit knowledge of how English sentences “ought” to sound. Removing pauses from the sentences did not affect foreign accent scores, suggesting that “fluency” and “foreign accent” represent different dimensions pertaining to L2 proficiency. Chinese talkers who learned English before the age of 12 years received significantly lower scores than native English talkers. Learning an L2 before 12 years—the age often associated with the end of a “critical period”—does not guarantee accent‐free pronunciation. There was no difference in foreign accent scores obtained for adult Chinese learners of English who had lived in the United States for 1 and 5 years. This suggests that amount of (unaided) L2 experience may not improve L2 pronunciation, at least beyond a certain point.