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[Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 6:1] 2020
► pp. 68–95

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Does personality influence ratings of foreign accents?

 | University of Toronto, Canada
ORCiD logo with link | University of Toronto, Canada
Published online: 25 November 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.18042.gaf
Abstract
In both research and educational settings, native and non-native speakers are often asked to make foreign accent ratings (FARs) as a measure of second language pronunciation. However, previous research has identified several factors that influence these ratings. The current study investigates one such variable that, to date, has received little attention in the literature: personality. Thirty-six monolingual English speakers completed the Big Five Aspects Scales personality test (DeYoung, C. G., Quilty, L. C., & Peterson, J. B. (2007). Between facets and domains: 10 Aspects of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 931, 880–896. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and provided accentedness ratings for 15 non-native English speakers (L1 Mandarin) and five native controls. Results show that two of the Big Five personality traits – conscientiousness and extraversion – were significantly correlated with the ratings listeners provided, while another trait – agreeableness – approached significance. These findings further underline the need to interpret FARs with caution, as variables unrelated to foreign accent, in this case listeners’ personality, may be associated with these ratings, as well.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Foreign accent ratings
      • 2.1.1Methodological variables
      • 2.1.2Speaker variables
      • 2.1.3Listener variables
    • 2.2Personality
      • 2.2.1The Big Five Model
      • 2.2.2Personality and L2 assessment
  • 3.Current study
    • 3.1Hypotheses
    • 3.2Participants
    • 3.3Method
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
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