Affiliation:
1. Concordia University, Canada
2. University of Calgary, Canada
Abstract
Abstract
This study examined whether a negative social bias can influence how teachers evaluate second language (L2)
speech. Twenty-eight teachers of L2 German from Western Canada – 14 native speakers (NSs) and 14 proficient non-native speakers
(NNSs) – rated recordings of 24 adult L2 learners of German across five speech dimensions (accentedness, comprehensibility,
vowel/consonant accuracy, intonation, flow) using 1,000-point scales. Immediately before rating, half of NS and NNS teachers heard
critical comments about undergraduate German students’ language skills, while the other half heard no biasing comments. Under
negative bias, while the NNS teachers provided favorable evaluations across all five measures, NS teachers followed suit for only
intonation and flow, downgrading L2 speakers’ accentedness, comprehensibility, and vowel/consonant accuracy. Findings call into
question the relative stability of L2 speech ratings and highlight the importance of social context and teacher status as native
versus non-native speakers of the target language in assessments of L2 speaking performance.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Cited by
4 articles.
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