What we all need to hear: Accent perception and its implications
Molloy Faculty Mentor
Hia Datta
Presenter Major
Speech-Langauge Pathology/Audiology
Presentation Type
Oral
Location
Hays Theater, Wilbur Arts Building, Molloy University
Start Date
1-5-2026 11:55 AM
End Date
1-5-2026 12:01 PM
Description (Abstract)
Accent refers to the characteristics of phonemes and segmental prosody produced in regions which typically reflect the speaker's language, regional and sociocultural background (Hanulíková & Levy, 2025). The literature on accent perception is conflicting. McDonald et al. (2017) found that bilingual individuals with more exposure to foreign accents had better accent processing than monolingual individuals, but Tao & Taft's (2016) findings do not align with this. Thus, we examine if accent processing accuracy is stronger for bilinguals born to bilingual parents, monolinguals born to monolingual foreign accented English speakers, or monolinguals born to monolingual American English-speaking parents. Methods involve participants listening to sentences in different accents and reporting them verbatim in written format. Results allow young communicators to see the value in exposure to multiple languages and communicating with foreign-accented speakers.
This project has been submitted to IRB # 2415451
Keywords
Accent, Bilingual, Exposure, Intelligiblity, Speech
Related Pillar(s)
Community, Study
What we all need to hear: Accent perception and its implications
Hays Theater, Wilbur Arts Building, Molloy University
Accent refers to the characteristics of phonemes and segmental prosody produced in regions which typically reflect the speaker's language, regional and sociocultural background (Hanulíková & Levy, 2025). The literature on accent perception is conflicting. McDonald et al. (2017) found that bilingual individuals with more exposure to foreign accents had better accent processing than monolingual individuals, but Tao & Taft's (2016) findings do not align with this. Thus, we examine if accent processing accuracy is stronger for bilinguals born to bilingual parents, monolinguals born to monolingual foreign accented English speakers, or monolinguals born to monolingual American English-speaking parents. Methods involve participants listening to sentences in different accents and reporting them verbatim in written format. Results allow young communicators to see the value in exposure to multiple languages and communicating with foreign-accented speakers.
This project has been submitted to IRB # 2415451
