Attitudes of native and non-native speakers of English towards speakers of Dutch-accented English.

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dc.contributor.advisorNederstigt, U.
dc.contributor.advisorHendriks, B.C.
dc.contributor.authorEns, R.R.
dc.date.issued2017-08-17
dc.description.abstractDutch professionals are increasingly required to orally communicate in English, with both native and non-native speakers of English. Dutch people generally show a high proficiency in English, but even highly proficient speakers can have a strong non-native accent. Therefore, it is important to study the effects of Dutch-accented English speech. The present study examined the attitudes of native and non-native (Dutch) speakers of English towards speakers of Dutch-accented English. In a verbal-guise experiment, native and non-native speakers of English completed a questionnaire measuring their perceived competence, likability, and status towards speakers in a 25-second audio recording. Respondents listened to a speaker of English with a native accent, a speaker of English with a slight Dutch accent, or a speaker of English with a strong Dutch accent. Contrary to various previous studies, results showed that native speakers of English and native speakers of Dutch showed no significant differences in their perceived competence, likability, and status of speakers of different levels of accentedness. Results did show significant differences between the two groups of respondents: all speakers were perceived as more competent and more likable by native speakers of English than by native speakers of Dutch. It is possible that this is due to a higher tolerance of accented English by native speakers, however, this cannot be confirmed. It is concluded that the level of accentedness might not influence attitude towards the speaker as perceived by native speakers of English and native speakers of Dutch. This could be caused by a general tolerance of Dutch-accented English speech by both native and non-native listeners. It is possible that attitudes towards accented speakers are not influenced by accent, as long as the message is comprehensible.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://theses.ubn.ru.nl/handle/123456789/4812
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.thesis.facultyFaculteit der Letterenen_US
dc.thesis.specialisationInternational Business Communicationen_US
dc.thesis.studyprogrammeMaster Communicatie- en informatiewetenschappenen_US
dc.thesis.typeMasteren_US
dc.titleAttitudes of native and non-native speakers of English towards speakers of Dutch-accented English.en_US
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