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Article published In:
Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 3:2 (2017) ► pp.167–198

Processing time and comprehensibility judgments in non-native listeners’ perception of L2 speech

| | Universitat de Barcelona |
| |

This study investigated the relationship between processing time and comprehensibility judgments in non-native listeners’ perception of L2 speech as a function of an L1- match between speaker and listener and non-native listeners’ proficiency. Instructed L2-English learners differing in L1 (Catalan, German) and L2-proficiency (Low, High), and native-English listeners performed speeded speech processing tasks with English word and sentence stimuli spoken by L1-Catalan, L1-German and native English speakers, and rated the sentence stimuli for comprehensibility. The results showed significant moderate correlations between processing times and comprehensibility judgments mediated by an interaction between listeners’ L1 and their L2 proficiency. Non-native English was processed faster and judged to be more comprehensible by non-native listeners if produced by L1-matched speakers. When non-native English was produced by L1-matched speakers, low-proficiency listeners found it easier to process and understand than native English, whereas high-proficiency listeners showed a processing advantage over native English listeners

Keywords: processing time, comprehensibility, accent, L2 proficiency, L2 speech, non-native listeners
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Factors affecting the comprehensibility of non-native speech
    • 1.2Processing time and comprehensibility judgments of non-native speech
    • 1.3The present study
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
      • 2.1.1Speakers
      • 2.1.2Listeners
    • 2.2Speech materials
    • 2.3Perception tasks
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Effects of Listener’s L1 and Proficiency on the processing time of words and sentences
    • 3.2Effects of listeners’ L1 and proficiency on comprehensibility ratings
    • 3.3How does processing time relate to perceived comprehensibility?
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 4 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.3.2.01lud
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