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Article published In:
Journal of Second Language Studies
Vol. 7:1 (2024) ► pp.129–156

The detriment that error production creates is affected by non-L1 speakers’ linguistic group membership

| University of the West of England , UK
| University of the West of England , UK
| University of the West of England , UK
| University of the West of England , UK

We present three studies that investigate the effect of group-level language ability expectations on language ability judgements. Study 1 identifies expected English-language ability levels that native English speakers’ have for a number of non-native English-speaker groups. Based on the results, two text-based written-guise studies were conducted investigating the level of detriment that grammatical and lexical/typographical errors created on English-language ability ratings for different author guises (Swedish, Chinese, English) in formal (Study 2) and informal contexts (Study 3). In both contexts, grammatical errors produced by the guise representing the lower-ability non-L1 group were overlooked, while the same errors produced by the other guises significantly lowered the ability ratings. Our results coincide with the idea of the ‘sympathetic native speaker’ and expand it, suggesting that expected language level based on linguistic group membership inversely affects the level of sympathy/tolerance demonstrated. We link this to possible pedagogical implications.

Keywords: language ability judgements, interlanguage writing, linguistic bias, sympathetic native speaker, effect of errors
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Errors
      • 1.1.1Native speakers
      • 1.1.2Non-L1 speakers
      • 1.1.3Errors in written texts
    • 1.2Personal names and group membership
    • 1.3Sympathetic Native Speaker
  • 2.The present study
    • 2.1On the selection of judges
  • 3.Study 1 – native speaker’s expectation of non-L1 speaker’s English language ability
    • 3.1Method
    • 3.2Results and discussion
  • 4.Study 2 – judgements of errors in a formal text
    • 4.1Method
      • 4.1.1Respondents (Judges)
      • 4.1.2Texts used
      • 4.1.3The Guises, i.e., the linguistic background of the writer of the text
      • 4.1.4Questionnaire
      • 4.1.5Procedure
      • 4.1.6Coding
    • 4.2Results
    • 4.3Discussion
  • 5.Study 3 – judgement of errors in an informal text
    • 5.1Method
      • 5.1.1Respondents (judges)
      • 5.1.2Materials
      • 5.1.3Coding
    • 5.2Results
  • 6.General discussion
    • 6.1Why the different error judgements for Swedish/English and Chinese speakers?
    • 6.2The effect of different error types
    • 6.3Detriment of errors in formal and informal texts
    • 6.4Implications of the current study in L2 pedagogical settings
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 July 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jsls.00020.kir
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