Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native Speech
Traditionally, much of the attention on the communicative effects of non-native accent has focused on the accent itself rather than how it functions within a more natural context. The present study explores how the bodily context of co-speech emblematic gestures affects perceptual and social evaluat...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.574418/full |
| _version_ | 1819089632555433984 |
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| author | Kiana Billot-Vasquez Kiana Billot-Vasquez Zhongwen Lian Zhongwen Lian Yukari Hirata Yukari Hirata Yukari Hirata Spencer D. Kelly Spencer D. Kelly Spencer D. Kelly |
| author_facet | Kiana Billot-Vasquez Kiana Billot-Vasquez Zhongwen Lian Zhongwen Lian Yukari Hirata Yukari Hirata Yukari Hirata Spencer D. Kelly Spencer D. Kelly Spencer D. Kelly |
| author_sort | Kiana Billot-Vasquez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Traditionally, much of the attention on the communicative effects of non-native accent has focused on the accent itself rather than how it functions within a more natural context. The present study explores how the bodily context of co-speech emblematic gestures affects perceptual and social evaluation of non-native accent. In two experiments in two different languages, Mandarin and Japanese, we filmed learners performing a short utterance in three different within-subjects conditions: speech alone, culturally familiar gesture, and culturally unfamiliar gesture. Native Mandarin participants watched videos of foreign-accented Mandarin speakers (Experiment 1), and native Japanese participants watched videos of foreign-accented Japanese speakers (Experiment 2). Following each video, native language participants were asked a set of questions targeting speech perception and social impressions of the learners. Results from both experiments demonstrate that familiar—and occasionally unfamiliar—emblems facilitated speech perception and enhanced social evaluations compared to the speech alone baseline. The variability in our findings suggests that gesture may serve varied functions in the perception and evaluation of non-native accent. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T22:11:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c44fe206322c4296934408ce1fa44638 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T22:11:01Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c44fe206322c4296934408ce1fa446382022-12-21T18:48:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-09-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.574418574418Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native SpeechKiana Billot-Vasquez0Kiana Billot-Vasquez1Zhongwen Lian2Zhongwen Lian3Yukari Hirata4Yukari Hirata5Yukari Hirata6Spencer D. Kelly7Spencer D. Kelly8Spencer D. Kelly9Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, United StatesCenter for Language and Brain, Hamilton, NY, United StatesCenter for Language and Brain, Hamilton, NY, United StatesLinguistics Program, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, United StatesCenter for Language and Brain, Hamilton, NY, United StatesLinguistics Program, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, United StatesDepartment of East Asian Languages, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, United StatesCenter for Language and Brain, Hamilton, NY, United StatesLinguistics Program, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, United StatesTraditionally, much of the attention on the communicative effects of non-native accent has focused on the accent itself rather than how it functions within a more natural context. The present study explores how the bodily context of co-speech emblematic gestures affects perceptual and social evaluation of non-native accent. In two experiments in two different languages, Mandarin and Japanese, we filmed learners performing a short utterance in three different within-subjects conditions: speech alone, culturally familiar gesture, and culturally unfamiliar gesture. Native Mandarin participants watched videos of foreign-accented Mandarin speakers (Experiment 1), and native Japanese participants watched videos of foreign-accented Japanese speakers (Experiment 2). Following each video, native language participants were asked a set of questions targeting speech perception and social impressions of the learners. Results from both experiments demonstrate that familiar—and occasionally unfamiliar—emblems facilitated speech perception and enhanced social evaluations compared to the speech alone baseline. The variability in our findings suggests that gesture may serve varied functions in the perception and evaluation of non-native accent.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.574418/fullspeech processingnon-native accenthand gesturemultimodalsecond languagecross-cultural communication |
| spellingShingle | Kiana Billot-Vasquez Kiana Billot-Vasquez Zhongwen Lian Zhongwen Lian Yukari Hirata Yukari Hirata Yukari Hirata Spencer D. Kelly Spencer D. Kelly Spencer D. Kelly Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native Speech Frontiers in Psychology speech processing non-native accent hand gesture multimodal second language cross-cultural communication |
| title | Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native Speech |
| title_full | Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native Speech |
| title_fullStr | Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native Speech |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native Speech |
| title_short | Emblem Gestures Improve Perception and Evaluation of Non-native Speech |
| title_sort | emblem gestures improve perception and evaluation of non native speech |
| topic | speech processing non-native accent hand gesture multimodal second language cross-cultural communication |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.574418/full |
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