Article in:
Journal of Second Language Pronunciation: Online-First Articles

Foreign accent, comprehensibility and intelligibility, redux

| Simon Fraser University image/svg+xml
| Simon Fraser University image/svg+xml | University of Alberta image/svg+xml
We revisit Munro and Derwing (1995a), providing retrospective commentary on our original methods and findings. Using what are now well-established assessment techniques, the study examined the interrelationships among accentedness, comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speech of second-language learners. The key finding was that the dimensions at issue are related, but partially independent. Of particular note was our observation that speech can be heavily accented but highly intelligible. To provide a fresh perspective on the original data we report a few new analyses, including more up-to-date statistical modeling. Throughout the original text we intersperse insights we have gained over the past 25 years. We conclude with retrospective interpretations, including thoughts on the relevance of the study to contemporary second language teaching and especially pronunciation instruction.
Keywords: accentedness, intelligibility, comprehensibility, pronunciation
Published online: 31 August 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.20038.mun
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