Article

This study explored whether an unfamiliar non-native accent, differing
in both segmental and prosodic features was more difficult for individuals with
aphasia to understand than an unfamiliar native accent, which differed in
segmental features only. METHOD: Comprehension, which was determined by accuracy
judgments on true/false sentences, and speed of response were assessed in the
following three conditions: a familiar Southern Standard British English (SSBE)
accent, an unfamiliar native Grimsby accent, and an unfamiliar non-native Chinese
accent. Thirty-four English speaking adults (17 people with and 17 people without
aphasia) served as listeners for this study. RESULTS: All listeners made
significantly more errors in the unfamiliar non-native accent, although this
difficulty was more marked for those with aphasia. While there was no affect of
speaker accent on the response times of listeners with aphasia, listeners without
aphasia were significantly slower with the unfamiliar non-native accent.
CONCLUSION: The results indicate that non-native accented speech affects
comprehension even on simple tasks in ideal listening conditions. The findings
suggest that speaker accent, especially accents varying in both segmental and
prosodic features, can be a barrier to successful interactions between non-native
accented speakers and native listeners, particularly those with aphasia.

Langue : ANGLAIS