Predicting L2 Dialogue Listening Comprehension From Strength of Accent

There is a need for a less burdensome way to introduce a variety of English accents to Japanese learners who have had little exposure to English other than standard American English. This study examined whether accent strength predicts listening comprehension of dialogues with the expectation that it would be helpful in teaching if the difficulty level of listening could be predicted from the strength of the accent. Five pairs of non-native speakers recorded brief self-introductory speeches and 50 short dialogues. Twenty-seven pre-intermediate Japanese university students listened to the speakers’ self-introductions and rated accent strength using the Strength of Accent Scale. Three months later, the same students answered 50 multiple-choice questions by listening to the dialogues. Regression analyses were performed for each pair of speakers, using mean comprehension test scores as the dependent variable and mean accent strength ratings as the predictor. A pair’s mean accent strength score was calculated based on the number of content words individual speakers uttered in dialogues after individual speakers’ accent strength scores were computed. No valid regression equations were developed for the five pairs, indicating that the strength of accent could not explain L2 dialogue listening comprehension. The result might be attributed to the variability in the listeners’ intelligibility/comprehensibility judgments.