The Impact of Accent among Non-Native English-speaking Biology Lecturers on Student Comprehension and Attitudes

Abstract

This study examined the attitudes of postgraduate biology students of three top-ranked Russian universities towards the foreign accents of non-native English-speaking lecturers. Fifty participants responded to a questionnaire, the main purpose of which was to explore the listeners’ perceptions of professors’ accents and their influence on students’ ability to concentrate on and comprehend the lecture material. The research included a quantitative analysis of gathered descriptive data. The results of the study show Russian students’ tolerant attitudes to foreign accents of non-native lecturers and demonstrate their readiness to comprehend non-standard English-medium speech of non-native representatives of the international natural sciences academic community.

Keywords

• accent perception
• foreign accent
• non-linguistic professional discourse
• russian-speaking students
• sociolinguistics
• students’ attitudes