A recent study reveals that speaking with a foreign accent can lessen the consequences of grammatical mistakes, but this varies according to the listener’s personality type.
Research conducted by the University of Birmingham, in collaboration with Cardiff University and the University of Novi Sad in Serbia, has explored how people perceive grammatical errors depending on whether the speaker has a foreign accent and the listener’s personality characteristics.
Published today (24th September) in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, the study discovered that generally, listeners are more forgiving of grammatical errors made by speakers with foreign accents. However, this tolerance can change if the listener possesses certain personality traits, such as being highly conscientious.
Professor Dagmar Divjak, a leading researcher in Cognitive Linguistics and Language Cognition at the University of Birmingham, commented: “As English is a global language and we find ourselves in diverse multicultural settings, we frequently encounter individuals from various backgrounds for whom English is not their primary language. This may result in conversations that deviate from what is traditionally considered ‘standard’, including foreign accents or grammatical mistakes, which can lead to negative judgments. However, there has been limited research on the relationship between accent and grammar. Our findings indicate that speakers with foreign accents face less severe judgment for grammatical mistakes than those with native accents. Additionally, we observed that the personality of the listener has a notable effect.”
The study involved 60 native British English speakers (30 men and 30 women) from Birmingham, who listened to 40 recordings of brief English passages. These recordings contained either grammatical errors or were grammatically correct and were read in either a British or foreign accent. The passages with grammatical mistakes included issues like missing or incorrectly used articles, exemplified by phrases such as “I enjoy Edinburgh Fringe Festival” or “We celebrate the Christmas.” The recordings were performed by two British and two Polish speakers, one male and one female, at a natural speaking pace.
Participants rated how the language sounded to them on a scale from 1 to 100, where 1 indicated ‘this is not how I would express myself in English’ and 100 denoted ‘this is pretty much how I would put it myself’. They also assessed how easy it was to understand the speaker, with 1 being ‘very difficult’ and 100 ‘very easy’. Additionally, participants completed a questionnaire detailing their personality traits relating to conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and neuroticism.
The findings revealed that grammatical errors resulted in a greater negative impact when spoken in a British accent compared to a Polish accent.
Dr. Hui Sun, who was a postdoctoral researcher during the study and is now a lecturer at Cardiff University, noted: “This could be due to the fact that grammatical errors in native accents are more surprising and thus more noticeable to listeners. It’s important to highlight that most speech samples, even those with errors, were generally rated as easy to comprehend. We also established that the personality traits of the listeners influenced their acceptability ratings. For instance, there was a clear trend showing that those who are more conscientious tend to find foreign-accented speech less acceptable, regardless of grammatical issues. Other personality types displayed a more complex, nonlinear pattern.”
Petar Milin, a Professor specializing in Psychology of Language and Language Learning at the University of Birmingham, added: “Our research illustrates that native English speakers are more understanding of grammatical mistakes when the speaker has a distinct foreign accent. This suggests that British individuals often consider the learning curve faced by non-native speakers, as long as the message remains clear. Overall, participants from Birmingham showed a significant degree of tolerance, which aligns with the city’s diverse population. This study highlights a positive level of kindness and understanding among the participants.”
The researchers believe these insights can inform practical applications, such as improving methods of teaching English as a second language and understanding how we form judgments based on accents in contexts like job interviews.
Professor Divjak concluded: “Our results could reshape the approach to teaching English as a second language, shifting the emphasis away from complex grammar rules towards effective communication. Moreover, it highlights the need for self-awareness as first-language listeners’ judgments about foreign-accented speech can have negative repercussions, particularly in critical situations like job applications and academic admissions. Enhancing awareness of how personality influences these evaluations may aid first-language speakers in better communication and appreciation of foreign-accented individuals.”
