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The Evaluation of Accent in the English of Dutchmen
Author(s) -
Koster Cor J.,
Koet Ton
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1993.tb00173.x
Subject(s) - pronunciation , stress (linguistics) , psychology , linguistics , point (geometry) , british english , north american english , vowel , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , formant
English native speakers and Dutch teachers of English were asked to judge the English pronunciation of two Dutchmen. Although there was a fairly large consensus between the English and Dutch judges, the former were more tolerant. The English native speakers found more fault with consonants, whereas the Dutch judges objected more to incorrectly realized vowels. In a second experiment, native speakers of English as well as experienced and inexperienced Dutch speakers of English (teachers and students, respectively) were asked to indicate on five 7‐point scales whether they found the English of Dutch people ugly or beautiful, monotonous or melodious, etc. There was considerable agreement in the global assessment of pronunciation. British listeners, again, showed themselves more tolerant in finding the pronunciation of Dutch speakers more pleasant and less ugly than did Dutch teachers of English, a finding ascribed to the Dutch teachers' undue fastidiousness.