The effect of recording setting in accentedness perception

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of recording setting on accentedness perception. It specifically tests Piller’s (2002) claims that certain settings are conducive to ‘passing’ for a native speaker. A number of non-native speakers of English were recorded in four different settings communicating on different topics (family, university, speaking with friends, and in short service encounters). Short clips from these recordings were subsequently played in two experiments to native speaker listeners who rated them on an accentedness scale. The results suggest that listeners rate clips recorded in the services and, under some conditions, family settings as less accented. The results of this perception study are discussed in light of a production study of sociolinguistic variation in non-native speakers (Gnevsheva 2015b).