Non-native English speaking (NNES) instructors are often rated lower within course evaluations and are typically criticized for their accents (Rubin, 1992; Subtirelu, 2015). Reasonings behind this have not been researched much in terms of online education, though the relevance of this topic is continuing to grow through online learning. The current experiments aim to determine if the presence of an NNES accent causes more learning anxiety compared to an instructor with a standard American accent. Two experiments were conducted to gauge participants’ anxiety level and learning performance. In both experiments, participants were given a set of four videos divided into two segments: one containing videos with an NNES instructor and the other containing videos with a standard American accented instructor. After each video, participants were asked recall questions over the information that they had just received before moving on to the next video. In between the two segments, participants’ anxiety levels were measured. At the end of each experiment, participants were asked to fill out a Chinese language experience form and demographic information. Our findings indicated the instructor type influenced recall and anxiety.
","abstract_html":"<p>Non-native English speaking (NNES) instructors are often rated lower within course evaluations and are typically criticized for their accents (Rubin, 1992; Subtirelu, 2015). Reasonings behind this have not been researched much in terms of online education, though the relevance of this topic is continuing to grow through online learning. The current experiments aim to determine if the presence of an NNES accent causes more learning anxiety compared to an instructor with a standard American accent. Two experiments were conducted to gauge participants’ anxiety level and learning performance. In both experiments, participants were given a set of four videos divided into two segments: one containing videos with an NNES instructor and the other containing videos with a standard American accented instructor. After each video, participants were asked recall questions over the information that they had just received before moving on to the next video. In between the two segments, participants’ anxiety levels were measured. At the end of each experiment, participants were asked to fill out a Chinese language experience form and demographic information. Our findings indicated the instructor type influenced recall and anxiety. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McClure, Katelyn Lee"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z","subjects":["Accented English","Anxiety","Cognitive Load","College Age","Non-native English-speakers","Pedagogy","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2022 Katelyn Lee McClure"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/742","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McClure, Katelyn Lee"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Accented English","Anxiety","Cognitive Load","College Age","Non-native English-speakers","Pedagogy","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2022 Katelyn Lee McClure"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/742"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Non-native English speaking (NNES) instructors are often rated lower within course evaluations and are typically criticized for their accents (Rubin, 1992; Subtirelu, 2015). Reasonings behind this have not been researched much in terms of online education, though the relevance of this topic is continuing to grow through online learning. The current experiments aim to determine if the presence of an NNES accent causes more learning anxiety compared to an instructor with a standard American accent. Two experiments were conducted to gauge participants’ anxiety level and learning performance. In both experiments, participants were given a set of four videos divided into two segments: one containing videos with an NNES instructor and the other containing videos with a standard American accented instructor. After each video, participants were asked recall questions over the information that they had just received before moving on to the next video. In between the two segments, participants’ anxiety levels were measured. At the end of each experiment, participants were asked to fill out a Chinese language experience form and demographic information. Our findings indicated the instructor type influenced recall and anxiety.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"I Could Not Understand Anything They Said!\": Non-Native English Speaking Instructors, Online Learning, and Student Anxiety"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["McClure, Katelyn Lee"],"dc:description.abstract":["Non-native English speaking (NNES) instructors are often rated lower within course evaluations and are typically criticized for their accents (Rubin, 1992; Subtirelu, 2015). Reasonings behind this have not been researched much in terms of online education, though the relevance of this topic is continuing to grow through online learning. The current experiments aim to determine if the presence of an NNES accent causes more learning anxiety compared to an instructor with a standard American accent. Two experiments were conducted to gauge participants’ anxiety level and learning performance. In both experiments, participants were given a set of four videos divided into two segments: one containing videos with an NNES instructor and the other containing videos with a standard American accented instructor. After each video, participants were asked recall questions over the information that they had just received before moving on to the next video. In between the two segments, participants’ anxiety levels were measured. At the end of each experiment, participants were asked to fill out a Chinese language experience form and demographic information. Our findings indicated the instructor type influenced recall and anxiety.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/742"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2022 Katelyn Lee McClure"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Accented English","Anxiety","Cognitive Load","College Age","Non-native English-speakers","Pedagogy","Psychology"],"dc:title":["\"I Could Not Understand Anything They Said!\": Non-Native English Speaking Instructors, Online Learning, and Student Anxiety"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z"}