Teacher and Nonteacher Perceptions of Second‐Language Communication*

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare teacher and nonteacher perceptions of second‐language communication. Eight native speakers of Chinese enrolled in an advanced ESL class at The Ohio State University were videotaped speaking extemporaneously about the same topic. These videotapes were shown to ESL teachers (n=25) and nonteachers (n=32) who completed a questionnaire about their perceptions of each speaker and his or her presentation. All of the respondents were native speakers of American English. Perceptions were found to be multidimensional not unidimensional. A factor analysis of the ESL teachers’ data revealed five factors: comprehensibility, social acceptability, linguistic ability, personality, and body language. A factor analysis of the nonteachers’ data yielded four factors: comprehensibility/linguistic ability, social acceptability, body language, and personality. A factor analysis of the combined‐group data revealed five factors: comprehensibility, social acceptability, linguistic ability, personality, and body language. A MANOVA and a series of univariate analysis of variance comparing the two groups on the five factors found in the combined‐group factor analysis showed a significant difference in ratings of students’ linguistic ability. Nonteachers rated students’ linguistic ability significantly higher than did the ESL teachers. Differences in ratings of students on other factors were not significant.