This study of L-2 Russian interlanguage production examined the salience of phonetic, lexical and syntactical features for L-1 listener intelligibility, based on L-2recitation of written scripts (Part I) and also unrehearsed speech (Part II). Part III of the study investigated strategies used by native-speaking teachers of Russian as a Second Language and experienced Russian host families to facilitate comprehensibility of L-2Russian speech.
The respondent group consisted of 51 native-Russian speakers plus a 20-member ethnic Russian control group, whose speech samples were also rated by the informant group. The 51 respondents comprised four sub-groups based on residency (Russia/US), profession (teacher/non-teacher of Russian as a Second Language), experience with Americans and knowledge of English.
Part I participants listened to eight L-2 American speakers of Russian of beginning, intermediate, advanced and superior proficiency levels read a text in Russian and noted which aspect(s) of L-2 speech affected intelligibility. In Part II, participants listened to the same L-2 speakers spontaneously speak in Russian about their families, and then recorded which non-nativelike productions in grammar, pronunciation, lexicon and syntax were salient. In Part III, 18 L-2 Russian Teachers and 8 Russian home-stay family hosts were surveyed regarding both effective and ineffective strategies used to facilitate comprehensibility with American speakers of Russian.
The results of Part I revealed the salience of L-2 pronunciation (especially of paired consonants) by speakers of all proficiency levels for L-1 listener intelligibility. However, data revealed that native Russian listeners rated “lack of emotional expression”[intonational contours] as having most interfered with the intelligibility of speakers in the control group.
Part II findings confirmed that, although ratings across different respondent groups varied regarding L-2 proficiency levels and degree of incomprehensibility, non-nativelike pronunciation by L-2 speakers of all levels resulted in the greatest incomprehensibility for L-1 listeners. Six of the eight respondent groups determined that incorrect word choice by Level 1, 2 and 4 L-2 speakers resulted in incomprehension. Four of the eight respondent groups identified non-normative productions in L-2 syntax by Level 1 and 2 speakers as salient. Hesitation devices and fillers used by L-2 speakers also resulted in L-1 listener incomprehension.
The results of Part III showed that inter-active strategies used to clarify or improve poor L-2 pronunciation or grammar knowledge are most effective when students are highly motivated, have low inhibition, and make a concerted effort to communicate with their teachers, as well as with home-stay hosts.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study of L-2 Russian interlanguage production examined the salience of phonetic, lexical and syntactical features for L-1 listener intelligibility, based on L-2recitation of written scripts (Part I) and also unrehearsed speech (Part II). Part III of the study investigated strategies used by native-speaking teachers of Russian as a Second Language and experienced Russian host families to facilitate comprehensibility of L-2Russian speech.</p> <p>The respondent group consisted of 51 native-Russian speakers plus a 20-member ethnic Russian control group, whose speech samples were also rated by the informant group. The 51 respondents comprised four sub-groups based on residency (Russia/US), profession (teacher/non-teacher of Russian as a Second Language), experience with Americans and knowledge of English.</p> <p>Part I participants listened to eight L-2 American speakers of Russian of beginning, intermediate, advanced and superior proficiency levels read a text in Russian and noted which aspect(s) of L-2 speech affected intelligibility. In Part II, participants listened to the same L-2 speakers spontaneously speak in Russian about their families, and then recorded which non-nativelike productions in grammar, pronunciation, lexicon and syntax were salient. In Part III, 18 L-2 Russian Teachers and 8 Russian home-stay family hosts were surveyed regarding both effective and ineffective strategies used to facilitate comprehensibility with American speakers of Russian.</p> <p>The results of Part I revealed the salience of L-2 pronunciation (especially of paired consonants) by speakers of all proficiency levels for L-1 listener intelligibility. However, data revealed that native Russian listeners rated “lack of emotional expression”[intonational contours] as having most interfered with the intelligibility of speakers in the control group.</p> <p>Part II findings confirmed that, although ratings across different respondent groups varied regarding L-2 proficiency levels and degree of incomprehensibility, non-nativelike pronunciation by L-2 speakers of all levels resulted in the greatest incomprehensibility for L-1 listeners. Six of the eight respondent groups determined that incorrect word choice by Level 1, 2 and 4 L-2 speakers resulted in incomprehension. Four of the eight respondent groups identified non-normative productions in L-2 syntax by Level 1 and 2 speakers as salient. Hesitation devices and fillers used by L-2 speakers also resulted in L-1 listener incomprehension.</p> <p>The results of Part III showed that inter-active strategies used to clarify or improve poor L-2 pronunciation or grammar knowledge are most effective when students are highly motivated, have low inhibition, and make a concerted effort to communicate with their teachers, as well as with home-stay hosts.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Neuendorf, Jill A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Open Access","degree_discipline":"Russian","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:36Z","subjects":["Linguistics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://repository.brynmawr.edu/dissertations/43","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Neuendorf, Jill A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Russian"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Linguistics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://repository.brynmawr.edu/dissertations/43"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study of L-2 Russian interlanguage production examined the salience of phonetic, lexical and syntactical features for L-1 listener intelligibility, based on L-2recitation of written scripts (Part I) and also unrehearsed speech (Part II). Part III of the study investigated strategies used by native-speaking teachers of Russian as a Second Language and experienced Russian host families to facilitate comprehensibility of L-2Russian speech.
The respondent group consisted of 51 native-Russian speakers plus a 20-member ethnic Russian control group, whose speech samples were also rated by the informant group. The 51 respondents comprised four sub-groups based on residency (Russia/US), profession (teacher/non-teacher of Russian as a Second Language), experience with Americans and knowledge of English.
Part I participants listened to eight L-2 American speakers of Russian of beginning, intermediate, advanced and superior proficiency levels read a text in Russian and noted which aspect(s) of L-2 speech affected intelligibility. In Part II, participants listened to the same L-2 speakers spontaneously speak in Russian about their families, and then recorded which non-nativelike productions in grammar, pronunciation, lexicon and syntax were salient. In Part III, 18 L-2 Russian Teachers and 8 Russian home-stay family hosts were surveyed regarding both effective and ineffective strategies used to facilitate comprehensibility with American speakers of Russian.
The results of Part I revealed the salience of L-2 pronunciation (especially of paired consonants) by speakers of all proficiency levels for L-1 listener intelligibility. However, data revealed that native Russian listeners rated “lack of emotional expression”[intonational contours] as having most interfered with the intelligibility of speakers in the control group.
Part II findings confirmed that, although ratings across different respondent groups varied regarding L-2 proficiency levels and degree of incomprehensibility, non-nativelike pronunciation by L-2 speakers of all levels resulted in the greatest incomprehensibility for L-1 listeners. Six of the eight respondent groups determined that incorrect word choice by Level 1, 2 and 4 L-2 speakers resulted in incomprehension. Four of the eight respondent groups identified non-normative productions in L-2 syntax by Level 1 and 2 speakers as salient. Hesitation devices and fillers used by L-2 speakers also resulted in L-1 listener incomprehension.
The results of Part III showed that inter-active strategies used to clarify or improve poor L-2 pronunciation or grammar knowledge are most effective when students are highly motivated, have low inhibition, and make a concerted effort to communicate with their teachers, as well as with home-stay hosts.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Intelligibility and Comprehensibility of Learner Speech in Russian: A Study in the Salience of Pronunciation, Lexicon, Grammar and Syntax"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Neuendorf, Jill A."],"dc:description.abstract":["This study of L-2 Russian interlanguage production examined the salience of phonetic, lexical and syntactical features for L-1 listener intelligibility, based on L-2recitation of written scripts (Part I) and also unrehearsed speech (Part II). Part III of the study investigated strategies used by native-speaking teachers of Russian as a Second Language and experienced Russian host families to facilitate comprehensibility of L-2Russian speech.
The respondent group consisted of 51 native-Russian speakers plus a 20-member ethnic Russian control group, whose speech samples were also rated by the informant group. The 51 respondents comprised four sub-groups based on residency (Russia/US), profession (teacher/non-teacher of Russian as a Second Language), experience with Americans and knowledge of English.
Part I participants listened to eight L-2 American speakers of Russian of beginning, intermediate, advanced and superior proficiency levels read a text in Russian and noted which aspect(s) of L-2 speech affected intelligibility. In Part II, participants listened to the same L-2 speakers spontaneously speak in Russian about their families, and then recorded which non-nativelike productions in grammar, pronunciation, lexicon and syntax were salient. In Part III, 18 L-2 Russian Teachers and 8 Russian home-stay family hosts were surveyed regarding both effective and ineffective strategies used to facilitate comprehensibility with American speakers of Russian.
The results of Part I revealed the salience of L-2 pronunciation (especially of paired consonants) by speakers of all proficiency levels for L-1 listener intelligibility. However, data revealed that native Russian listeners rated “lack of emotional expression”[intonational contours] as having most interfered with the intelligibility of speakers in the control group.
Part II findings confirmed that, although ratings across different respondent groups varied regarding L-2 proficiency levels and degree of incomprehensibility, non-nativelike pronunciation by L-2 speakers of all levels resulted in the greatest incomprehensibility for L-1 listeners. Six of the eight respondent groups determined that incorrect word choice by Level 1, 2 and 4 L-2 speakers resulted in incomprehension. Four of the eight respondent groups identified non-normative productions in L-2 syntax by Level 1 and 2 speakers as salient. Hesitation devices and fillers used by L-2 speakers also resulted in L-1 listener incomprehension.
The results of Part III showed that inter-active strategies used to clarify or improve poor L-2 pronunciation or grammar knowledge are most effective when students are highly motivated, have low inhibition, and make a concerted effort to communicate with their teachers, as well as with home-stay hosts.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://repository.brynmawr.edu/dissertations/43"],"dc:subject":["Linguistics"],"dc:title":["The Intelligibility and Comprehensibility of Learner Speech in Russian: A Study in the Salience of Pronunciation, Lexicon, Grammar and Syntax"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Russian"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:36Z"}