**2. Listener background**

#### **2.1 Listener first language status**

The literature on the effect of listeners' first language status on rating NNSs' oral performances has yielded mixed results. On the one hand, some studies reported that NNSs tend to be more stringent in their assessments than NSs [5–7]. This severity could be justified in the light of the fact that "NNSs may reflect their personal L2 learning struggles, leading them to attribute examinees' errors to a lack of language learning effort on the part of the test takers" ([3], p. 5). On the other hand, some other studies reported contradictory findings in which NSs were more severe listeners than NNSs [8]. Yet the results of some studies reported similar trends of stringency for NNS and NS listeners [9, 10].

Bent and Bradlow [11] noted the fact that some listeners might be more tolerant of accented speech than others based on the concept of "interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit." This occurs when listeners are well-attuned to the speakers' rhythm of speech due to the phonological similarities that exist between the listeners and speakers' L1. For example, Major et al. [12] argued that Chinese and Japanese listeners had a relatively decent understanding of Spanish-accented English due to the shared prosodic features that existed among Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish. Other studies reported that Japanese L1 listeners found Japanese L1 speakers of English were more intelligible than native English listeners found them to be [13], and also Indian and South African listeners were able to comprehend listening passages recorded by their own shared L1 speakers, respectively [14].

#### **2.2 Effects of exposure to different varieties of English**

A growing body of literature on the effect of prior interaction with L2 varieties lends favorable support to the fact that L2 speech perception is, to a large extent, influenced by the degree of familiarity with and exposure to L2 accented varieties.

**5**

NNSs' speech rating.

*Listener Background in L2 Speech Evaluation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89414*

In this regard, Derwing and Munro [15] reported that those listeners who selfreported to have frequent exposure to foreign accent had higher intelligibility scores and were more successful in language identification compared with their counterparts who self-reported to have more sporadic interaction with foreign accent. The result of this study comports with Gass and Varonis [16] assertion that those listeners who have prior exposure to accented varieties of English are favorably biased toward ratings of NNSs' speech. Likewise, Kennedy and Trofimovich [17] argued that the NSs with more frequent exposure to L2 speech had a more accurate transcription of NNSs' speech. In another study, Carey et al. [18] investigating the effect of listeners' familiarity with speakers' interlanguage on their assessment of speakers' pronunciation added that those listeners who had extensive prior exposure to the L2 accented variety of the speakers tended to rate their pronunciation higher than those who

reported having little or no familiarity with that particular L2 accent.

Therefore, they would comprehend the accented speech effortlessly.

Current research is equivocal on the effect of listeners' linguistic knowledge and educational accomplishment on the assessment of L2 performance. The findings of the study conducted by Kang et al. [3] did not reveal any significant relation between the degree of educational accomplishment and linguistic knowledge on listeners' holistic ratings of L2 proficiency. Also, listeners varying in degrees of educational accomplishment did not differ in rating severity; nevertheless, those listeners who were extremely severe or lenient in their assessments, regardless of their educational background, became more moderate after they received training and became familiar with assessment criteria. In another study, Kang and Rubin [2] reported that listeners' education in linguistics and TESOL conferred a higher degree of NNS perception comprehensibility on the listeners. However, the results of Kang's [1] study failed to establish a significant relationship between listeners' prior formal training in language and linguistics and their ratings of NNSs' speech. Given the contradictory results in the literature, no definitive conclusion can be drawn on the effect of listeners' formal training in linguistics and their patterns of

**2.3 Listener educational background and linguistic knowledge**

**2.4 Effects of prior language teaching and tutoring experience**

Listeners' teaching and tutoring experience can be associated with the ratings of NNSs' speech. In Kang's [1] study, the undergraduate listeners who had the

The findings of various studies further indicate that the listeners who are less familiar with particular L2 varieties tend to perceive the speakers of those specific L2 varieties more accented, which would consequently impair their comprehension [1, 19, 20]. In this regard, Adank et al. [21] hypothesized that listeners' familiarity with a particular accented English positively correlated with comprehensibility. To test the hypothesis, they had the recordings of two British English speakers varying in accent (Southern Standard versus Glaswegian) rated by two groups of British listeners both of whom familiar with Southern Standard accent but only one of them familiar with Glaswegian accent. The results indicated that familiarity with accent facilitated comprehension. Taken as a whole, the frequency with which one encounters and processes a foreign accent determines the ease with which they comprehend the speakers of that particular L2 variety. This phenomenon could be explained in the light of the fact that the listeners who have prolonged exposure to a particular L2 accent register the sound system prototypes of the accented variety and they refer to them while perceptually decoding the speech signal [22, 18].

#### *Listener Background in L2 Speech Evaluation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89414*

*Metacognition in Learning*

directions.

**2. Listener background**

**2.1 Listener first language status**

stringency for NNS and NS listeners [9, 10].

**2.2 Effects of exposure to different varieties of English**

rightfully reflects the true ability of the speakers [4].

speakers' oral proficiency score variance. Thus, the results of the assessments may not make valid contributions to L2 speech research and teaching due to such inaccurate assessment. Given the fact that the insertion of the listener-related variables, also referred to as "trait-irrelevant" variables, would obscure the speakers' true speaking ability, the main objective of oral proficiency assessment and second language research is to mitigate the potency of the extraneous factors so that the obtained score

The current chapter is a desktop review aimed at examining existing research that have investigated a wide range of listener background factors, which are at play in speakers' score variation and oral proficiency discrepancies. This review would inform future researchers of the presence of the listener-related variables and help them devise some effective strategies to lessen, if not to eradicate, their intervening effects. The factors specifically accentuated in this desktop review include listener first language status, effect of exposure to different varieties of English, listener educational background and linguistic knowledge, effects of prior language teaching and tutoring experience, linguistic stereotyping, and listener attitude. We will then discuss rater training in the assessment contexts and structured contact activities which are used as remedies for minimizing the effects of listeners' bias, as well as L2 listening strategy instruction and self-efficacy, followed by implications for L2 pronunciation research and pedagogy as well as recommendations for future

The literature on the effect of listeners' first language status on rating NNSs' oral performances has yielded mixed results. On the one hand, some studies reported that NNSs tend to be more stringent in their assessments than NSs [5–7]. This severity could be justified in the light of the fact that "NNSs may reflect their personal L2 learning struggles, leading them to attribute examinees' errors to a lack of language learning effort on the part of the test takers" ([3], p. 5). On the other hand, some other studies reported contradictory findings in which NSs were more severe listeners than NNSs [8]. Yet the results of some studies reported similar trends of

Bent and Bradlow [11] noted the fact that some listeners might be more tolerant of accented speech than others based on the concept of "interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit." This occurs when listeners are well-attuned to the speakers' rhythm of speech due to the phonological similarities that exist between the listeners and speakers' L1. For example, Major et al. [12] argued that Chinese and Japanese listeners had a relatively decent understanding of Spanish-accented English due to the shared prosodic features that existed among Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish. Other studies reported that Japanese L1 listeners found Japanese L1 speakers of English were more intelligible than native English listeners found them to be [13], and also Indian and South African listeners were able to comprehend listening passages recorded by their own shared L1 speakers, respectively [14].

A growing body of literature on the effect of prior interaction with L2 varieties lends favorable support to the fact that L2 speech perception is, to a large extent, influenced by the degree of familiarity with and exposure to L2 accented varieties.

**4**

In this regard, Derwing and Munro [15] reported that those listeners who selfreported to have frequent exposure to foreign accent had higher intelligibility scores and were more successful in language identification compared with their counterparts who self-reported to have more sporadic interaction with foreign accent. The result of this study comports with Gass and Varonis [16] assertion that those listeners who have prior exposure to accented varieties of English are favorably biased toward ratings of NNSs' speech. Likewise, Kennedy and Trofimovich [17] argued that the NSs with more frequent exposure to L2 speech had a more accurate transcription of NNSs' speech. In another study, Carey et al. [18] investigating the effect of listeners' familiarity with speakers' interlanguage on their assessment of speakers' pronunciation added that those listeners who had extensive prior exposure to the L2 accented variety of the speakers tended to rate their pronunciation higher than those who reported having little or no familiarity with that particular L2 accent.

The findings of various studies further indicate that the listeners who are less familiar with particular L2 varieties tend to perceive the speakers of those specific L2 varieties more accented, which would consequently impair their comprehension [1, 19, 20]. In this regard, Adank et al. [21] hypothesized that listeners' familiarity with a particular accented English positively correlated with comprehensibility. To test the hypothesis, they had the recordings of two British English speakers varying in accent (Southern Standard versus Glaswegian) rated by two groups of British listeners both of whom familiar with Southern Standard accent but only one of them familiar with Glaswegian accent. The results indicated that familiarity with accent facilitated comprehension. Taken as a whole, the frequency with which one encounters and processes a foreign accent determines the ease with which they comprehend the speakers of that particular L2 variety. This phenomenon could be explained in the light of the fact that the listeners who have prolonged exposure to a particular L2 accent register the sound system prototypes of the accented variety and they refer to them while perceptually decoding the speech signal [22, 18]. Therefore, they would comprehend the accented speech effortlessly.

### **2.3 Listener educational background and linguistic knowledge**

Current research is equivocal on the effect of listeners' linguistic knowledge and educational accomplishment on the assessment of L2 performance. The findings of the study conducted by Kang et al. [3] did not reveal any significant relation between the degree of educational accomplishment and linguistic knowledge on listeners' holistic ratings of L2 proficiency. Also, listeners varying in degrees of educational accomplishment did not differ in rating severity; nevertheless, those listeners who were extremely severe or lenient in their assessments, regardless of their educational background, became more moderate after they received training and became familiar with assessment criteria. In another study, Kang and Rubin [2] reported that listeners' education in linguistics and TESOL conferred a higher degree of NNS perception comprehensibility on the listeners. However, the results of Kang's [1] study failed to establish a significant relationship between listeners' prior formal training in language and linguistics and their ratings of NNSs' speech. Given the contradictory results in the literature, no definitive conclusion can be drawn on the effect of listeners' formal training in linguistics and their patterns of NNSs' speech rating.
