The Influence of Accent on English Listening Comprehension Among Second Language Learners

Abstract

As English continues to globalize, the variation in accents of English has become a noteworthy factor affecting listening comprehension for second language learners. Drawing on the Chinese-speaking university students, this paper seeks to explore the major mediating process of English accents that exert direct and indirect influences on L2 listening comprehension with a view to find pedagogical implications. The results suggest that phonetic differences between accents raise the phonetic processing demands, disturb lexical access and reduce subjectie intelligibility. and the crucial moderating roles of learners' English proficiency and comprehension of the accent; high-level learners with multit-alker exposure show more coping ability with new accents. Further studies demonstrate that the systematic application of mixed-accent input, explicit phonemic discrimination/comprehension and context scaffolded practice in L2 listening training, together with stressing intelligibility more than accent 'purity' in assessment can contribute to students' ability to listen well in a variety of English settings. The paper argues that a 'multiple accents, intelligibility-oriented' teaching and examining approach serves as a happy compromise between these two extremes, constituting a realistic alternative for the reform of English listening education and testing at China's HEPS.