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Article published In: Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 11:2 (2025) ► pp.267–293

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The intelligibility and comprehensibility of French-accented English in an academic context

From isolated words to speech comprehension

ORCiD logo with link | Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès
 | Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès
 | Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès
Published online: 18 August 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.25010.oca
Abstract
This study investigates the intelligibility and comprehensibility of French-accented speech in an academic context. L1 French and L1 English listeners heard speech samples in three different accent conditions: a marked French accent, an unmarked French accent and a Southern British English (SBE) accent. They were asked to perform two word recognition tasks, a speech comprehension task and provided subjective ratings of certainty, comprehensibility, cognitive load and accentedness. Results showed that for English listeners sharing the same first language (L1) had a facilitating effect, whereas varying the levels of French-accentedness had a detrimental effect. French listeners, however, did not find French-accented speech significantly more intelligible and comprehensible than SBE-accented speech. These findings deepen our knowledge of the relationship between intelligibility, comprehensibility, accentedness and cognitive load.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Intelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness: Intertwined concepts
    • 1.2Producing and perceiving the acoustic signal
    • 1.3Accentedness: An obstacle or a desirable difficulty?
    • 1.4Research questions and hypotheses
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Materials
    • 2.3Procedure
    • 2.4Data analysis
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Recognising isolated words
    • 3.2Recognising words in context
    • 3.3Speech comprehension and comprehensibility
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
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