Lexical aspects of comprehensibility and nativeness from the perspective of native-speaking English raters

Randy Appel; Pavel Trofimovich; Kazuya Saito; Talia Isaacs; Stuart Webb

Ayuda

Lexical aspects of comprehensibility and nativeness from the perspective of native-speaking English raters

Appel, Randy ^[1] ; Trofimovich, Pavel ^[2] ; Saito, Kazuya ^[3] ; Isaacs, Talia ^[4] ; Webb, Stuart ^[5]
1. [1] Waseda University
  
  Waseda University
  
  Japón
2. [2] Concordia University
  
  Concordia University
  
  Canadá
3. [3] University of London
  
  University of London
  
  Reino Unido
4. [4] University College London
  
  University College London
  
  Reino Unido
5. [5] Western University
  
  Western University
  
  Azerbaiyán
Mostrar afiliaciones +
Localización: ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics, ISSN 0019-0810, ISSN-e 1783-1490, Vol. 170, Nº. 1, 2019, págs. 24-52
Idioma: inglés
Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
Resumen
- This study analyzed the contribution of lexical factors to native-speaking raters’ assessments of comprehensibility and nativeness in second language (L2) speech. Using transcribed samples to reduce non-lexical sources of bias, 10 naïve L1 English raters evaluated speech samples from 97 L2 English learners across two tasks (picture description and TOEFL integrated). Subsequently, the 194 transcripts were analyzed through statistical software (e.g., Coh-metrix, VocabProfile) for 29 variables spanning various lexical dimensions. For the picture description task, separation in lexical correlates of the two constructs was found, with distinct lexical measures tied to comprehensibility and nativeness. In the TOEFL integrated task, comprehensibility and nativeness were largely indistinguishable, with identical sets of lexical variables, covering dimensions of diversity and range. Findings are discussed in relation to the acquisition, assessment, and teaching of lexical properties in L2 speech.