The Effect of Accent and Presentation Mode on Academic Discourse Comprehension at Two Different Grade Levels

Abstract

Despite the role of different accents of English and the contribution of academic listening, virtually no previous studies examined the developmental contour of academic listening skills and the effect of accent for advanced Korean EFL high school students. Accordingly, quantitative comparisons were made on the relationship between accent, presentation mode (spoken vs. written), and grade level. Two major findings were identified. First, in contrast to previous research findings, the advanced EFL participants were rarely affected by different accents of English regardless of their grade level, indicating that language proficiency is an important variable in interpreting the effect of accent. Second, academic listening skills of advanced EFL learners did not improve as much as their academic reading skills. The findings of the study have a direct bearing on EFL academic discourse comprehension and pedagogy.