Although many studies have shown accent bias in hiring contexts, the mechanisms underlying different types of accent bias remain underexplored. This study investigated how accent type (operationalized through selected foreign and regional accents) and accent strength (slight vs. strong) jointly influence social evaluations of speakers. In a verbal guise experiment, Dutch participants ( N = 458) rated job applicants speaking Dutch with slight or strong foreign (French or German) or regional (Limburgish or Twents) accents, or Standard Dutch (control), on processing fluency, inferred motive, social categorization, attitudinal evaluations (competence, status, likeability, dynamism) and hirability. Results revealed less favourable evaluations of the selected strongly regionally accented speakers than the selected strongly foreign-accented speakers across inferred motive, social categorization, dynamism, status and hirability. The selected foreign-accented speakers received similar ratings to standard-accented speakers. These findings underscore the importance of examining accent type and strength and adopting a multivariate approach to capture their complex interplay.

Foreign-accented teachers have been shown to trigger negative evaluations by students. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether this form of accent discrimination can be prevented or reduced by raising listeners' awareness of the undesirability of accent discrimination. In a 2 x 3 between-subject verbal-guise design, 816 (Dutch, international, L1 English) listeners evaluated lecture fragments recorded by Dutch or German speakers with a moderate or slight accent. In the experimental conditions, participants read instructions about not discriminating against accented speakers (explicit instructions) or about not discriminating in general (implicit instructions), while a control group received no instructions. Findings indicate that listeners who had received implicit or explicit instructions evaluated both moderately and slightly accented speakers more positively than listeners who had received no instructions. The present study has demonstrated the effectiveness of a prejudice control intervention across a variety of listener groups. The intervention in our study, consisting of written instructions, has the practical advantage of being relatively easy to administer.

Politeness research has shown that L2 users of English differ from L1 users in that they underuse politeness markers to modify their requests. The purpose of the current study was to investigate if variations in politeness modifications in English email requests by L1 versus L2 writers are evaluated differently by L1 and L2 readers. In an experimental study with a 2 (sender: Dutch English/L1 English) × 2 (politeness: less/more) design, 120 Dutch and 131 British participants evaluated one of four emails in which the politeness and the sender of the email were systematically varied. Results showed that senders were perceived as more bossy when the email contained less politeness modification than when the email contained more politeness modification. L2 writers were evaluated as being more authoritative and readers were more willing to comply with the request in L2 emails with less politeness modification than in emails with more politeness modification. An L1 English writer of an email with less politeness modification was seen as less competent than an L1 English writer of an email with more politeness modification. Thus, undermodification of requests may have a limited but important impact on how L1 and L2 email writers are evaluated.

The rapid spread of English medium instruction (EMI) across the globe has led to a growing number of non-native lecturers teaching in English to student populations that are increasingly international. The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent lecturers with slight or moderate Dutch accents or native British English accents are evaluated differently in terms of intelligibility, comprehensibility and attitudinal impressions by non-native and native English-speaking listeners. In an experiment, 189 Dutch listeners, 175 international non-native listeners and 158 native English listeners evaluated fragments recorded by moderately accented Dutch, slightly accented Dutch and native English speakers. Findings showed that the moderately non-native accented lecturers were evaluated more negatively than lecturers with slight or native accents by both Dutch and international non-native listeners, but not by native English listeners. This suggests that non-native listeners evaluate the accents of non-native lecturers according to native speaker pronunciation norms.

In a within-subjects experiment, 119 Dutch listeners evaluated authentic English and Dutch lecture fragments recorded by the same Dutch lecturer. For each fragment, they answered multiple-choice comprehension questions and rated the lecturer on comprehensibility, attitudinal measures (status, competence, likeability and dynamism), and perceived teaching quality. Findings showed that actual comprehension was not different for the English and the Dutch fragments. The lecturer was evaluated less positively in the English fragments than in the Dutch fragments in terms of status, competence, dynamism and teaching quality, but not likeability. A mediation analysis showed that language choice had no direct effect but only indirect effects on perceived teaching quality through comprehensibility and non-native pronunciation. Our study shows that the use of EMI instead of L1MOI would not appear to result in reduced comprehension but does result in more negative perceptions of the lecturer, and that non-native pronunciation contributes to these perceptions.

Commercials regularly use non-standard accented speakers to promote products and services despite sociolinguistic fi ndings that non-standard accents in non-commercial contexts are evaluated less positively than standard accents. Accent evaluations in commercial contexts may be di ff erent because of perceived relevance to the product or service or of perceived manipulative intent. To date, no studies have investigated whether identical accented speech fragments are evaluated di ff erently in commercial and non-commercial contexts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the e ff ect of non-standard versus standard accented speech in commercial versus non-commercial contexts in terms of attitudes towards the speaker (competence, status, likeability, dynamism), comprehensibility, attitude towards the product, attitude towards the vlog, and perceived realism of the vlog. In a 2 (cid:1) 2 between-subject design, 631 Dutch respondents evaluated Dutch standard-accented and regionally accented vlogs in either a commercial or non-commercial context. Findings show that commercial versus non-commercial context had no e ff ect on the evaluations of standard and regional accents. In both contexts, a regional accent was evaluated more negatively than a standard accent for the majority of measures: attitudes towards the speaker (competence, status, dynamism), comprehensibility, attitude towards the product, and perceived realism of the vlog. These fi ndings indicate that a regional accent is a potent negative cue across these contexts, overriding possible e ff ects that are speci fi c to commercial contexts. (cid:1) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC

This chapter outlines suggestions for research into the effects of foreign accent strength in English on native and non-native listeners in a variety of contexts.

The present study investigated the use of a regional accent with varying strengths in product and service commercials. In a 2 (type of commercial: product/service) x 3 (accent: strong German regional / moderate German regional / standard German) between-subject design, 218 German native speakers evaluated product and service commercials. Findings suggest that the effects of regional accents were limited. In the product commercial, the speaker with a moderate accent was attributed more warmth than a speaker with a standard accent. In the service commercial, the attitude towards the service was more negative for the moderate than for the standard accent.

The effect of monologues and dialogues in radio commercials Previous research has shown that the use of dialogues instead of monologues in radio narratives stimulates the imagination of listeners and increases involvement with the narratives (Rodero, 2012). To date, no research has investigated the effectiveness of dialogues versus monologues in radio commercials. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of the use of dialogues versus monologues in radio advertisements for different products on involvement with the advertisement, imagery, evaluation of the product, evaluation of the commercial, evaluation of the speaker, and purchase intention. In an experiment with a 2 (presentation method: dialogue, monologue) x 2 (product: shoes, instant coffee) between-subject design, 152 participants evaluated four radio advertisements. Findings showed that dialogues, compared to monologues, led to more lively and attractive radio commercials, a more positive attitude towards the product, a higher purchase intention and higher status of the speaker in the radio commercial. It can be concluded that the use of dialogues instead of monologues can have a positive effect on the effectiveness of radio commercials.

The increase in non-native English (NNE) instructors involved in English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has led to growing concerns about the evaluation of lecturers' NNE accents. Potentially important considerations that have largely been unexplored thus far are the impact of lecturers' accent strength and of shared L1 background between lecturers and students. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how Dutch and German students evaluate Dutch and German lecturers with moderate and slight non-native English accents in terms of speaker competence and likeability, teaching quality and intelligibility. In an experiment, 293 Dutch students and 274 German students evaluated fragments recorded by moderately accented, slightly accented Dutch and German speakers and native English speakers. Findings showed that, generally, lecturers with moderate non-native English accents were evaluated less positively whereas lecturers with slight non native English accents were evaluated similarly to lecturers with native English accents. The Dutch moderately accented speakers were evaluated more positively than the German moderately accented speakers. The findings indicate that it is advisable for NNE lecturers involved in EMI to engage in pronunciation training to minimize features of a moderate non-native accent and that it is important to challenge nonnative students' ideas about pronunciation standards.

Communication in English increasingly involves non-native speakers. Such speakers can speak English with different degrees of non-native accentedness. In order to contribute to insights into the effects that these differences in accentedness can have on listeners, the current study systematically reviews experimental studies into the effects of degrees of foreign accentedness in English. It presents an overview of the L1s of the speakers, nationalities of the listeners, degrees of accent strength tested, dependent variables and outcomes in the studies reviewed. The trend that emerges from the studies included in the review indicates that stronger accents generally have more negative effects on understanding and attitudinal evaluations than weaker accents.

This paper reports on an experimental study investigating alternative communication modes to English as a Lingua Franca. The purpose was to examine the effectiveness of different modes of communication and to gain insight in communication strategies used by interlocutors to solve referential conflicts. Findings show that ELF may not necessarily be the most effective mode of communication for speakers who do not share a native language. In the context of multinational corporations, RM may be regarded as a viable alternative to English for negotiating mutual understanding, particularly for speakers with (linguistically) closely related mother tongues.

It has been suggested that foreign languages in advertising are primarily used for their symbolic significance (the stereotypes they evoke), and that, therefore, consumers' comprehension of the foreign language used is of secondary importance. Experimental research into the effect of the difficulty of foreign languages in advertising slogans has focused on the influence of difficulty on appreciation of the slogan itself. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of difficult versus easy English slogans in product advertisements on evaluations extending beyond text evaluation. In a within-subjects experimental design, 128 Dutch participants evaluated six Dutch advertisements with difficult and easy English slogans. The dependent variables included evaluation of the slogan, attitudes toward the ad and product, and purchase intention. Findings showed that the easy English slogans were evaluated better than the difficult English slogans and generally resulted in a better attitude toward the ad and toward the product and in a higher purchase intention. Thus, difficult-to-understand foreign-language slogans were found to have negative effects on ad effectiveness, which extended beyond text evaluation.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate if English loanwords are perceived differently in Flanders and the Netherlands, two areas with a shared official language (Dutch) but different sociolinguistic background and history. It has been argued that because of historical French dominance over Flemish, attitudes towards loanwords in Flanders are negative, whereas in the Netherlands attitudes are more positive because Dutch has not been threatened by another language there. In an experiment with a between-subject design, 155 Dutch and Flemish university students evaluated three equivalent Dutch and English job titles (e.g. hoofredacteur/editor-in-chief) with regard to comprehensibility, attractiveness, naturalness, and intention to apply for the job. In addition, general attitudes towards English loanwords were measured. Findings did not reveal differences between the Dutch and Flemish participants in their evaluation of the English versus Dutch job titles, nor in their general attitude towards English loanwords. For both participant groups, there were no differences in attitude towards the English and Dutch versions for two of the job titles, and both groups displayed more positive attitudes towards the Dutch version of one of the job titles than its English equivalent. However, Flemish participants were less likely to apply for jobs with English job titles than for jobs with equivalent Dutch job titles, while for the Dutch participants language of job title did not result in differences in application intention. The general attitude to English loanwords of both Dutch and Flemish participants was positive. It can therefore be concluded that, generally, nationality was not a factor influencing language attitudes.

In a verbal guise experiment, 178 listeners with three nationalities (58 French, 59 German and 61 Spanish) listened to samples recorded by female speakers with three degrees of accentedness (strong/slight accented‐Dutch and native) in English, French, German and Spanish. Findings indicate that a strong accent had a detrimental effect on understanding and attitudinal evaluations, while a slight accent hardly led to negative effects. A speaker with a strong Dutch accent in English was evaluated as less competent than speakers with a slight or native accent. Speakers with a strong Dutch accent in French, German or Spanish were evaluated as less friendly and less competent than speakers with a native accent.

Few studies on evaluations of non-native English (NNE) accents by non-native listeners have taken into account degrees of accentedness. This study investigated the perception of moderately and slightly accented English by NNE in an educational context. Eight male speakers recorded two fragments of a lecture in English or Dutch. Experts determined the degree of accentedness of the speakers (moderate, slight, native). In an online questionnaire, 163 Dutch students evaluated the fragments. The moderately accented instructors were evaluated as less comprehensible than slightly accented and native instructors. The Dutch and English fragments were considered equally comprehensible. The moderately accented instructors were regarded less positively than the slightly accented and native English instructors. Slightly accented instructors were evaluated as more likeable than the native English instructors and the instructors in the native Dutch fragments. In conclusion, degrees of accentedness in English influence NNE listeners’ attitudinal evaluations.

Social media allow consumers to easily share positive or negative information about a brand with other consumers, for instance, through Twitter. Such Twitter use is a source of information that may affect the brand reputation. Therefore, it is important to gain more understanding of how Twitter is employed to evaluate brands and to communicate these evaluations with others. Previous research on Twitter use has shown that tweets about brands are more likely to be positive than negative. The present study integrates an agenda-setting perspective with studies on word of mouth and services marketing, which have suggested that this finding may be different for services than for goods. A quantitative content analysis of 1,920 Dutch tweets for 24 different brands was performed. The analysis showed that services received significantly more negative sentiment tweets than products. Implications of these results for monitoring consumers are discussed.