Dutch listeners’ responses to Dutch, British and American English accents in three contexts.

Author(s)

  • Warda Nejjari Radboud University
  • Marinel Gerritsen Radboud University Nijmegen
  • Roeland van Hout Raboud University Nijmegen
  • Brigitte Planken Radboud University Nijmegen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51751/dujal9365

Keywords:

Dutch-accented English, communication context, speech understandability, speaker evaluations, matched-guise technique

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess Dutch listeners’ responses to native-accented Englishes compared with Dutch-accented English in terms of speech understandability and speech evaluations in three professional communication contexts. In a matched-guise experiment Dutch listeners (N=392) responded to a Dutch English, a standard British and American accent in terms of speech understandability (intelligibility, comprehensibility, interpretability) and speaker evaluations (status, affect, dynamism). Dutch listeners evaluated these accents in three communication contexts: Lecture, Audio Tour, Job Pitch. Only context affected speech understandability: comprehensibility and interpretability were higher for the Lecture compared to the Audio Tour and the Job Pitch. Accent only negatively affected status evaluations for Dutch-accented English. Context only evoked more affect in the Audio Tour and the Lecture than in the Job Pitch. Our main conclusion is that Dutch-accented English negatively impacts status, but not understanding, affect and dynamism. Context impacts understanding and affect.

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Published

13-12-2021

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How to Cite

Nejjari, W., Gerritsen, M., van Hout, R., & Planken, B. (2021). Dutch listeners’ responses to Dutch, British and American English accents in three contexts . Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10. https://doi.org/10.51751/dujal9365