Listener Factors Related to the Perception of Accented Speech

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of the listener’s education and occupation on intelligibility, comprehensibility (ease of understanding), and accentedness in speakers of Russian-accented American English (RA), Southern-accented American English (SA), and General American English (GAE). Native English listeners ( N=126) rated various aspects of each sample presented via a questionnaire. All aspects of speech other than rate were rated highest in the GAE sample followed by the SA and RA samples. Intonation and fluency aspects of accented speech appeared to be influenced by the differences in educational or occupational backgrounds. The study also discussed additional influential factors for the perception of accented speech such as clarity, accentedness, and acceptability of speech for SLPs. This study contributes to increase the awareness of factors associated with the negative perception of regional and foreign accents.