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Second language speech comprehensibility: A research agenda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2023

Dustin Crowther Open the ORCID record for Dustin Crowther [Opens in a new window]  and
Daniel R. Isbell Open the ORCID record for Daniel R. Isbell [Opens in a new window]
Dustin Crowther*
Affiliation:
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, USA
Daniel R. Isbell
Affiliation:
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, USA
*
Corresponding author: Dustin Crowther; Email: dcrowth@hawaii.edu
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Abstract

Interest in second language (L2) speech comprehensibility, or listeners’ perceived ease or difficulty of understanding a given utterance, has seen continual growth since Munro and Derwing's (1995) seminal publication in Language Learning. While recognizing the body of knowledge that has developed in the 25 plus years since Munro and Derwing's study, in the present paper we look to the future as we consider what an active and informative research agenda might look like for the next 10–15 years. In this regard, we propose four primary areas of future research, including a need to: (1) extend inquiry beyond a primary focus on L2 English speech, (2) explore comprehensibility more thoroughly as a social construct, (3) investigate the effects of more targeted task manipulations, and (4) delve deeper into the effects of comprehensibility-oriented instruction. We additionally discuss the need for more replication in L2 comprehensibility research while also promoting several scholarly disciplines we feel can greatly inform future research, such as task-based literature.

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Thinking Allowed
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Language Teaching , Volume 57 , Issue 4 , October 2024 , pp. 533 - 549
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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