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Impact of Accented English on Listener Attitude Towards Speakers’ Credibility

This study investigates how speakers’ accent impact their credibility, specifically the effects of Japanese accented English on the attitudes of listeners with different language backgrounds. A total of 30 participants comprised from three different language groups (native speakers of English, ESL, and EFL) listened to the recordings of three presenters speaking in English with different levels of Japanese accent: light, middle and heavy. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in perceived credibility given to different levels of accentedness according to the language group. All participants found the least accented speech the most credible, and the most heavily-accented English was rated as having the lowest credibility. Implications for pronunciation teaching are discussed.