'Mag ik iets vragen?' 'Yes, of course!': The Effect of Dutch L1 Speaker Code Choice in a L1-L2 Conversation on Speaker and Communication Evaluations.

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2023-06-21

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en

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The aim of the current research was to investigate how the code choice of a native Dutch speaker, either Dutch or English, when responding to a non-native Dutch speaker influences evaluations of the likeability and politeness of the native speaker, as well as of communicative success, and if and how the politeness interpretation (i.e., through the virtuosity or deference maxim), politeness preferences, and language preferences and proficiency of the listeners play a role. It was found that accommodation, or a Dutch response, may be preferred. That is, listeners perceive the native speaker to consider the non- native speaker’s language abilities to a larger extent (i.e., the virtuosity maxim) and to show them more respect (i.e., the deference maxim) when they respond in Dutch than in English. In turn, these perceptions correlate with higher native speaker likeability and politeness evaluations, as well as higher communicative success ratings in the case of the virtuosity maxim. Politeness preferences, language preferences, and language proficiency do not seem to play a role.

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Faculteit der Letteren