Language Accommodation in Dutch Academic Settings: How Native Dutch Speakers Respond to Non-Native Speakers' Linguistic Features.

Abstract

My thesis explored how native Dutch speakers respond to different linguistic features in the speech of non-native speakers in academic settings. Using the framework of Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), the study focused on whether Dutch speakers choose to switch to English, and what factors influence that decision. In a between-subjects experiment, 68 Dutch participants listened to one of five short audio clips featuring varied speech elements such as accent strength, grammatical errors, code-switching, and speech rate. Participants then completed a questionnaire assessing perceived efficiency, politeness, comprehensibility, and likelihood of switching languages. The results showed that code-switching significantly increased perceived communicative efficiency, more than a mild accent or slower speech. Surprisingly, strong accents or grammatical errors had little effect on perceived politeness or comprehensibility. These findings suggest that native speakers are more influenced by how efficient communication feels than by linguistic correctness, which has implications for multilingual interaction in academic environments.