Perceptions Of Speakers Research Articles

Linguistic correlates of second language users’ attitudes to Arabic and Chinese varieties of English: a verbal guise study

ABSTRACT Research into language attitudes suggests that L2 users often hold negative attitudes toward their own and others’ L2 accents. However, less is known about specific features that affect these attitudes. Beinhoff’s study explored consonantal variation and its impact on perceptions of L2 speakers, but this study further examines linguistic correlates of L2 users’ attitudes toward Arabic and Chinese varieties of English. Using the verbal guise method, Arabic and Chinese male and female speakers read a paragraph in English with varying L1 influences. Each sample was rated by 30 L2 listeners on a 6-point semantic differential scale assessing status, solidarity, and dynamism. Phonological and fluency analyses of the samples revealed that non-segmental features, such as prosody, play a more significant role in eliciting positive attitudes toward these English varieties than do segmental features. These findings highlight the importance of suprasegmental aspects in shaping listener perceptions of L2 English speech.

Attitudes and Perceptions of Language Varieties: A Case Study of Ekegusii Dialects in Kisii County

Purpose: The size of the territory considered to be home for speakers of Ekegusii in Kenya is about 2230 square kilometres. The sheer size of the territory and also compounded by the fact that the terrain is mountainous makes contact between people from extreme ends of the territory a rare occurrence. Methodology: This state of affairs contributes a great deal to the birth of regional dialects. Ekegusii has two notable regional dialects; Maate and Rogoro. This paper examines the attitudes and perceptions of speakers of the two varieties of the language as reflected in their speech behaviours. The study employed Language Use and Attitude Questionnaire (LUAQ) by Fishman (1965) to elicit attitudes and perceptions of speakers towards their dialect and that of the others. Findings: It emerged that there is disparity in the treatment and perception of the dialects; Rogoro dialect speakers are favourably treated and their dialect is perceived to be superior to Maate dialect. The situation is attributed to the immense institutional support Rogoro dialect enjoys from the mainstream community. Unique Contribution to theory, practice and policy: Thus, it has a strong network of speakers in a vast area as opposed to Maate dialect which is prevalent in South Mugirango only, a small portion of the entire territory. Speakers of Maate dialect do not perceive their variety as being any lesser but are aware of the preferential bias accorded to Rogoro dialect at the expense of theirs. The bias is manifested in, among other instances, distribution of limited resources such as government jobs and opportunities for social mobility in the region where the two dialects are spoken.

Más las oigo, mejor me parecen: comparativas proporcionales idiolectales

Abstract In this work, the symmetric comparative correlatives attested in the journalist Rubén Amón’s speech and writing are analysed. The interest of these constructions lies in the fact that they are virtually non-existent in European Spanish (and have very low frequency in American varieties, as I show). By exhaustively analysing the linguistic production of this journalist, I describe these idiolectal syntactic uses (which have not always been part of his grammar) and I propose a hypothesis about their origin, based on language contact with Italian and French. To understand how an individual feature persists despite not being shared by other members of the community, I examine the perceptions of European Spanish speakers of these constructions.

Engaging Guest Speakers and Recognizing Their Valuable Contributions to Public Health Classrooms: Process Evaluation of a Pilot Program to Provide Thank You Gift Cards to Guest Speakers

Guest speakers introduce students to diverse perspectives, share relevant experiences that reinforce course content, and demonstrate how skills and knowledge that students are learning can be applied in public health practice. Providing a monetary thank you gift is one way to recognize the valuable contributions of community-based guest speakers to students’ learning. We describe the implementation and evaluation of a departmental pilot program to offer gift cards to guest speakers. During the 2022 to 2023 academic year, instructors could request a $100 gift card for one guest speaker outside of the university community per course per semester. We evaluated the program to assess the process for distributing gift cards, instructors’ reasons for inviting guest speakers, and students’ perceptions of guest speakers’ contributions to their learning. Data were collected through tracking spreadsheets, an online survey to instructors, and anonymous student course evaluations. Thirty gift cards ($2525 covered by the department) were distributed. Evaluation findings indicate that the program is a feasible way to engage diverse perspectives in the classroom and share applied examples and professional development with students. Specific recommendations that we implemented in the continuation of this program include allowing flexibility in the number and denomination of gift cards, streamlining the process for requesting and distributing gift cards, and providing communications to facilitate consistent and clear information sharing. The Guest Speaker Thank You Gift Program complements and extends the diversity, equity, and inclusion work of the department by supporting the expansion of perspectives shared in classroom and directly acknowledging guest speakers’ contributions.

The image of Russia as a result of political perception (based on the results cognitive analysis of the concepts of <i>Russia</i>, <i>Homeland</i>, <i>Country</i>, and <i>State</i>)

The article raises the problem of political perception and formation of the image of Russia in the individual and public consciousness. The hypothesis of the study is that the image of Russia as a result of political perception is structured from certain concepts (Russia, Homeland, country, and state). These concepts are basic for the conceptual sphere of the Russian people, and they have been studied in detail within the framework of cognitive linguistics. However, trends in political perception can be traced by studying changes in the perception of native Russian speakers of relevant concepts. Within the framework of the free association method, 326 respondents were selecting attributive distributors for lexemes that verbalize the corresponding concepts. The results of the study consist in: (1) identification of a range of attributes characteristic of each concept that makes up the image of Russia; (2) identification of overlapping, that is, repetitive and most common definitions that indicate the key characteristics of the concepts; (3) highlighting the most unique, neologous phrases that demonstrate trends in the dynamics of concepts; (4) visualization of the image of Russia (its key and peripheral characteristics), which allows you to see trends in political perception.

Hikikomori and Sōshokukei-danshi: A semantic analysis of Japan’s social deviants

This study is a semantic analysis that examines the meanings of two contemporary Japanese labels, hikikomori and soushokukei-danshi. This duo has often been linked to the late marriage age, declining marriage rate, shoushika (low birth rate), and koureika (the aging society). The goal of this thesis is to define these individuals according to the perceptions of native Japanese speakers and to convey the definitions by using the reductive paraphrase methodology. Accordingly, cultural values reflected in the labels will be revealed. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach and corpus analysis are the chosen methodology. NSM is a universal mini metalanguage, while corpus analysis is a tool that can analyse data from online sources. Combined, these methods support the goal of delivering explications that reflect the labels from a Japanese perspective. Results from the study show that the values of Japanese society and the duos are at odds with one another, subsequently, fuelling the negative stigma directed towards both cohorts: Hikikomori are individuals who are emotionally withdrawn and bound to the house for the most part. Furthermore, their condition is something they feel they cannot change so easily; and Soushokukei-danshi are young men who are uninterested in romance or attaining stereotypical male positions in the workforce. Moreover, they would rather invest time in their hobbies. Through this study, a better comprehension of what these words mean is acquired.

The perception and production of Korean stops in second dialect acquisition.

This study investigated the acoustic cue weighting of the Korean stop contrast in the perception and production of speakers who moved from a nonstandard dialect region to the standard dialect region, Seoul. Through comparing these mobile speakers with data from nonmobile speakers in Seoul and their home region, it was found that the speakers shifted their cue weighting in perception and production to some degree, but also retained some subphonemic features of their home dialect in production. The implications of these results for the role of dialect prestige and awareness in second dialect acquisition are discussed.

Rhythm Is a Marker of Ethnicity in Modern Hebrew: Evidence from a Perception Study and Actors' Ethnicized Portrayals.

In Modern Hebrew, only three segmental markers are typically acknowledged as ethnically conditioned, and usage of these markers has significantly decreased in second and third generation speakers. Yet the sociolinguistic situation of diverging language backgrounds of first generation speakers, compounded with ethnic segregation in housing and the workforce, seems like a fertile ground for social identification from speech. We report two studies on prosodic variation in Modern Hebrew: a perception study and a "matched-pairs" corpus study. The results of the first illustrate that even in the absence of the known segmental markers, ethnicity perception of young native speakers may still diverge between two major ethnic identities, Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) and Ashkenazi (European). The main acoustic correlate was rhythm, measured as the proportional duration of vowels in the utterance. In the second study, actors' speech rhythm was found to be modulated by their portrayed ethnic identity in the same direction, suggesting that this variable is socially salient-and for some speakers, controllable-enough to be involved in style shifting. This study joins a growing body of work illustrating that relatively mild rhythmic variation can contribute to social identification, and in the current case, also for ethnicity portrayal.

Imagining an anti-racist pronunciation pedagogy

Abstract This article is an initial imagining of what an anti-racist pronunciation pedagogy (APP) might look like in ELT contexts such as immigrant employment training and international students studying in North American higher-education institutions. Three possible foci of an APP are briefly explored. First, this pedagogy helps students refuse the idea of the phonological superiority of the white native speaker. Furthermore, it reinforces intelligibility as a joint goal of both speaker and listener, thereby acknowledging how race and racism inform listener perceptions of speakers. Finally, an APP is an activist pedagogy that seeks to address institutionalized racism with regard to speech accent.

Analysis of temporal and spatial systems in chinese linguoculture (on russian language background).

The present article is dedicated to the concepts of time and space as a fragment of the Russian and Chinese linguistic worldviews. Notions of time are fundamental to any culture and people's worldview, hence in this study, we attempt to "unify" the aspects of Chinese and Russian time and space that we have identified through research. Our research object, as a fragment of the Russian linguistic worldview, is connected with notions of time and space. The subject of our investigation is the linguistic means in which Russian speakers' notions of time are expressed, considered against the backdrop of the Chinese language in lexical, semantic, and grammatical aspects.The aim of the study is to identify and describe the main features of the representation of time in Chinese and Russian languages, as well as to highlight the main differences in the representation of time and space in the Chinese and Russian linguistic worldviews. Structural-semantic, linguacultural, and comparative analysis methods are employed to analyze the conceptual models of time in these two languages. The scientific novelty of this article lies in the attempt to use a spatial model to describe the concept of time in order to identify possible temporal dimensions in language, as well as in attempting to interpret and generalize the notions of time from the perspective of the cognitive perception of Chinese language speakers. The theoretical significance of this article lies in the endeavor to specify the cognitive perception of language speakers through the analysis of historical and cultural origins of time models, as well as in generalizing some regularities of time expression in modern languages. Studying the fundamental concept of time and space models contributes to the further development of cognitive models, translation, teaching Russian and Chinese as foreign languages etc.

Perception of speaker identity for bilingual voices

Voice is often described as an “auditory face”; it provides important information concerning speaker identity (e.g., age, height, sex). The acoustic properties related to voice can also vary substantially within a speaker based on one’s emotional, social, and linguistic states. Recent work suggests that biological components have the greatest impact in the acoustic variability found in voice, followed by language-specific factors and speaking style [Lee & Kreiman, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 153, A295 (2023)]. The effects of such within- vs. between-speaker acoustic variability on the perception of speaker identity, however, have not been explored. The present study therefore examines the perception of speaker identity in bilingual voices. The prediction is that acoustic variability will also affect speaker identity perception: voices will be discriminated best for between-speaker samples, while within-speaker variability will not affect perception of speaker to the same extent. To test this prediction, listeners participated in a voice discrimination task using bilingual voice data produced by Korean heritage speakers across different languages (Korean, English) and speech styles (read, extemporaneous). The data will be analyzed to measure the effects of speaker, language, and speech style on voice discrimination. The results will be reported in relevance to the relationship between bilingualism and speech style on voice quality and speaker identity.

중국어권 학습자의 종결표현 ‘-(으)ㄹ 텐데’ 사용 양상 연구

Objectives The purposes of this study were to investigate Chinese-speaking learners’ usage and perception of ’-eultende’, which is used at the end of the sentence, and compared them with the usage and perception of native speakers.
 Methods First, we looked at the explanation of ‘-eultende’ appearing in dictionaries, grammar books, Korean textbooks, and papers. Next, analyze the usage of ‘-eultende’, which is used in the ending position in the learner corpus of the National Institute of the Korean Language. Last, reveal the usage and the perception patterns of ‘-eultende’, which is used in the ending position of the Chinese learners’ usage through a survey.
 Results The result shows that first, Chinese-speaking learners could discriminate the semantic functions of ‘regret’ and ‘regret’ of ‘-eultende’. Second, we found that some Chinese-speaking learners confused expressions of regret and expressions of hope. In particular, in the fill-in-the-blank question, Chinese learners responded with the expression ‘-(었/았/였)으면 좋겠다’which is known as expression of ‘hope’, in a situation expressing ‘regret’, and showed a higher usage rate than native speakers. In addition, we also found that there were some Chinese-speaking learners regarded ‘-eultende’ as the speaker's ‘hope’ or ‘wish’ and ‘-(었/았/였)으면 좋겠다’ as ​​the speaker's ‘regret’. Third, it was shown that in a situation expressing ‘worry’, native speakers preferred ‘-eultende’ more than Chinese-speaking learners. Fourth, problems with tense and honorifics were found in the responses of Chinese-speaking learners.
 Conclusions In conclusion, first, the situation that Chinese language learners consider ‘-eultende’ as the speaker's ‘hope’ or ‘wish’ and ‘-(었/았/였)으면 좋겠다’ as ​​the speaker's ‘regret’ raised the topic of the need for a comparative study of regret expressions for Chinese learners in Korean language education, and a study of discourse and pragmatic discrimination between expressions of regret and hope. Second, it is thought that the factor of the textbook is also an important cause that Chinese learners are not accustomed to using -eultende’, which indicates ‘worry’. At the same time, this also raised the topic of the necessity of integrating the presentation form and explanation of ‘-eultende’.

Probing Lexical Ambiguity in Chinese Characters via Their Word Formations: Convergence of Perceived and Computed Metrics.

Lexical ambiguity is pervasive in language, and the nature of the representations of an ambiguous word's multiple meanings is yet to be fully understood. With a special focus on Chinese characters, the present study first established that native speaker's perception about a character's number of meanings was heavily influenced by the availability of its distinct word formations, while whether these meanings would be perceived to be closely related was driven by further conceptual analysis. These notions were operationalized as two computed metrics, which assessed the degree of dispersion across individual word formations and the degree of propinquity across clusters of word formations, respectively, in a distributional semantic space. The observed correlations between the computed and the perceived metrics indicated that the utility of word formations to tap into meaning representations of Chinese characters was indeed cognitively plausible. The results have demonstrated the extent to which distributional semantics could inform about meaning representations of Chinese characters, which has theoretical implications for the representation of ambiguous words more generally.

Non-Native Speakers’ Perception and Motivation for Learning English Language through Movies

The global dominance of the English language has motivated individuals whose first language is not English to actively pursue fluency in English. For non-native speakers of English, acquiring the language is an intricate journey that demands substantial time and effort, accompanied by a range of challenges. In recent years, English movies have emerged as captivating tools for language learning, effectively aiding in enhancing vocabulary and essential language skills. These insights stem from past research that studied how non-native speakers learn English through movies. However, despite the valuable findings from these studies, there remains a discernible gap in our understanding of this field. In addressing this gap, the current study intended to investigate the perception and motivation of non-native speakers in learning English through movies. The study collected data by conducting surveys among non-native English speakers who were undergraduate students at a local public university. The findings revealed that these non-native speakers favour using movies as a method for learning English as a second language, and this medium enhances their motivation to learn. Building upon the existing foundation of research, this study significantly contributes to the body of knowledge by addressing the substantial research gap that exists in comprehending non-native speakers' perspectives on learning the English language through the medium of movies.

Perceptions of a virtual education platform: how plastic surgery education has progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic at one academic institution

BackgroundTo continue education during the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented a Virtual Education Platform (VEP) and Virtual Visiting Professorship (VVP) in March 2020 into our plastic surgery residency curriculum. This study investigated resident and guest speaker perceptions of the VEP since the start of the pandemic.MethodsThe VEP consists of weekly VVP lectures and usual conferences held over Zoom. In May 2020, residents and speakers completed surveys that assessed the perceptions of the VEP using a 5-point Likert scale and open-ended responses. In August 2021, residents also completed follow-up surveys.ResultsA total of 19 (100%) residents and 10 (100%) speakers responded to the 2020 surveys and 15 (88.2%) residents responded to the 2021 follow-up survey. Speakers represented nine academic institutions, one international. 74% of residents responded that they learned a lot or a great deal from the VVP. In 2021, 100% of residents agreed that virtual conferences should remain a core component in PRS residency education, even after social distancing requirements subside.The VVP lectures were mentioned as the most helpful lectures in both years. Easy accessibility without travel time was the most mentioned advantage of the VEP in both years, with significantly more residents citing this benefit in 2021 (p = 0.0076). The most reported disadvantage for residents was the lack of social interaction and community in both years, with significantly more residents in 2021 citing this as a disadvantage (p = 0.0307). Residents’ attitudes also shifted such that significantly more residents liked and were satisfied with the VVP lectures from 2020 to 2021 (p = 0.04).ConclusionOver a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, resident perceptions of a virtual education platform and virtual visiting professorship were very positive. The quick development, implementation, and high efficacy of these educational experiences underscore that learning is possible in alternative forms in unprecedented times.

Resting parasympathetic activity is associated with malodor-induced change in perceived foreignness of speakers.

To protect against infection, individuals have evolved context-dependent pathogen-avoidant strategies, including selective social behaviors aimed at avoiding foreign individuals who may possess greater risk of infection. Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity is associated with social engagement and regulation of the classical immune system but has not been widely investigated in relation to changes in intergroup perception and the behavioral immune system. The current research investigated the relationship between parasympathetic activity and perceived foreignness of in and outgroup speakers during exposure to a pathogen-relevant odor (butyric acid). High-frequency heart rate variability was measured at rest and while participants rated foreignness of speakers with and without the odor present. Findings show that exposure to the odor was associated with higher foreignness perceptions of outgroup speakers and lower foreignness perceptions of ingroup speakers. This effect was especially evident among individuals with higher resting parasympathetic activity. These results suggest that the PNS may play a role in changes in social perceptions during a behavioral immune response.

Perceptions of invited seminar speakers and seminar organizers across university biology departments in virtual formats

Research seminars are a staple within biology and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments across academic institutions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, academic institutions across the U.S. had to rapidly transition courses, research programs, and other events from in-person to virtual environments—and departmental research seminars were no exception. We explored the perceptions of biology department seminar speakers and organizers regarding the benefits and challenges they experienced in the virtual format. We asked three primary research questions: (1) What challenges and benefits do invited seminar speakers in biology departments perceive regarding presenting seminars in the virtual environment? (2) What challenges and benefits do organizers of biology department seminars perceive regarding organizing seminars in the virtual environment? (3) How did biology department seminars change during the transition from an in-person to virtual format? In total, 39 seminar organizers and 90 seminar speakers completed surveys focused on their perceptions of virtual seminars. Using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis, we found that numerous benefits and challenges are perceived by seminar speakers and organizers regarding virtual seminars. Speakers and organizers perceived similar benefits of virtual seminars including accessibility and diversity, while perceived challenges included the loss of professional networking opportunities and academic community. There was overwhelming consensus from speakers and organizers alike that virtual departmental seminars are professionally and academically valuable. However, while speakers’ chief motivator was in furthering their own networks, research collaborations, and research visibility, organizers primarily valued their own students’ or trainees’ career development as well as their own departmental community. Together, these findings demonstrate the potential benefits of continuing virtual seminars outside of the context of the COVID-19 pandemic from an equity perspective while also highlighting issues that must be addressed by organizers and attendees to ensure seminars retain their value.

Corpus-pragmatic perspectives on the contemporary weakening of fuck: The case of teenage British English conversation

This study examines the pragmatic functions of fuck among British English teenagers in casual conversation in two youth language corpora from the 1990s and 2010s. It applies a corpus-pragmatics approach to explore how the ongoing weakening of the taboo strength of fuck in the perception of young speakers is realised in usage data. The major functions observed involve a predominance of idiomatic, emphatic and emotionally expressive functions. Conversely, usage associated with potentially abusive functions, including literal reference to sexual intercourse, is infrequent. Our observations are interpreted in the context of delexicalization and related long-term diachronic processes, whereby contemporary usage of fuck among teenagers is characterised in terms of semi-delexicalized, pragmatically strengthened usage with weakened taboo status. The article also evaluates the interpretation of idiomatic usage from a functional perspective, and contributes to methodological considerations of the use of spoken corpora for pragmatic research.

Educational Planning in Context of Yakut, Kalmyk, and Karelian Languages

This article examines one component of language planning — educational planning. The main elements and indicators of this type of planning were identified. The authors discuss issues related to educational planning in three republics of the Russian Federation. The study was conducted based on the materials of the Kalmyk, Karelian, and Yakut languages. The aim of the research was to analyze educational planning as a set of existing opportunities for language learning. One of the objectives was to determine the scope and directions of activity in educational language planning. The second objective was to provide an overview of educational planning based on the materials of the Karelian, Kalmyk, and Yakut languages in synchrony and diachrony. The third objective was to analyze educational language planning according to our identified criteria and clarify the prestige of languages in the perception of speakers as a motivational factor for their study. To achieve this, the results of field research conducted in the three republics in 2021-2022 were analyzed. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the ethnic self-awareness of respondents is at a high level, and the symbolic significance of national languages is significant. However, there is a tendency towards a decrease in the number of individuals interested in studying their native (national) language in school education.

A cognitive dissonance approach to moderating listener perception of L2 English speakers

ABSTRACT Research has shown that listener bias and stereotyping affect listeners’ attitudes towards L2 English speakers [Lindemann, S., Litzenberg, J., & Subtirelu, N. (2014). Problematizing the Dependence on L1 Norms in Pronunciation Teaching: Attitudes Toward Second-Language Accents. In J. Levis & A. Moyer (Eds.). Social Dynamics in Second Language Accent (171–194)]. However, little research has explored ways to mitigate such prejudice to combat the linguistic discrimination prevalent in our society [Kang, O., D. Rubin, and S. Lindemann. 2015. “Mitigating U.S. Undergraduates’ Attitudes Toward International Teaching Assistants.” TESOL Quarterly 49 (4): 681–706; Subtirelu, N. C., and S. Lindemann. 2016. “Teaching First Language Speakers to Communicate Across Linguistic Difference: Addressing Attitudes, Comprehension, and Strategies.” Applied Linguistics 37 (6): 765–783]. The present study explored the effect of a one-week intervention on U.S. undergraduate students’ perception of L2 speakers. This study included three intact undergraduate-level writing classes (n = 25 each), two intervention groups and one control. Before the intervention, all students completed a perception questionnaire to measure listener perceptual judgement of language attitude, comprehensibility, and accentedness of L2 English speakers. The intervention included (a) one 50-minute discussion which explicitly addressed social justice issues related to multilingual speakers, designed according to the cognitive dissonance theory [Festinger, L. 1957. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson] and (b) three 50-minute laboratory sessions for reflection papers. An immediate post-test and a delayed post-test (11 weeks after) were administered. Linear mixed-effects models showed significant and sustained improvement of language attitude and comprehensibility ratings for the intervention groups across time, but not for the control group. The findings provide a relatively short, easily replicable, and sustainably effective intervention program to mitigate listener bias against L2 English speakers.