| Non-native speakers (NNSs) of English frequently misunderstand the meaning of suprasegmental messages in utterances relating to the social distance and relative power of the interlocutors; consequently, communication breaks down. This dissertation looks at the recognition of the prosodic features used by native speakers (NSs) of English in the 'yes' response. As might be expected, the NNSs did not always recognize the meanings contained in the suprasegmental features. The NNSs tended to better recognize native-like answers in circumstances involving their friends rather than strangers. They also could choose more accurately what the native-like preference was in situations where the speaker had less power than the hearer. The accuracy of the recognition of the native preference test was correlated to the NNSs' length of residency in the United States, their number of hours watching TV and listening to the radio, their total score on the Listening Comprehension section of the TOEFL test and by their total number of years studying English. More focused work on suprasegmentals, needs to be targeted in ESL classrooms to save unnecessary breakdown of communication between NSs and NNSs. |
