Cognitive Load Theory and Listening to Accent Variations in English

291 Pages·2015·1.74 MB·English

CLT AND ACCENT VARIATIONS IN ENGLISH

Cognitive Load Theory and Listening to
Accent Variations in English

Bipasha Binte Haque

BA Honours in English (Dhaka), MA in English Literature (Dhaka),
MA in ELSM (Warwick)

A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

School of Education

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

August 2014
COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY AND LISTENING TO ACCENT VRIATIONS IN ENGLISH iii

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COGNITI VE LOAD THEORY AND LISTENING TO ACCENT VRIATIONS IN ENGLISH ii

ORIGINALITY STATEMENT

‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my
knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another
person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the
award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational
institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any
contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW
or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the
intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the
extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in
style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’

Signed ……………………………………………..............

Date………………………………………………………….
COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY AND LISTENING TO ACCENT VRIATIONS IN ENGLISH iii
Thesis/Dissertation Sheet

Surname or Family name: Haque

First name: Bipasha Other name/s: Binte

Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar:
PhD

School: Education Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Title:Cognitive load theory and listening to accent variations
in English

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Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE)

Accent variability is an emerging field of study in listening to varieties of English.
Mutual intelligibility of accent variations in monolingual, as well as multilingual settings
may become challenging for native as well as non-native speakers of English. In a CLT
framework this thesis examined the accent variability effect and the expertise reversal
effect in listening to native and foreign-accented English with different levels of expertise
groups. The three experiments reported in this thesis addressed issues of how accent
variability boosted meaningful understanding of listening comprehensions, and how
instructional design could aide learning in perceptual listening environments so that
learners did not become entangled in the novelty of the accents; at the same time
maximising the learning of such instructional procedures.In Experiment 1 three single-
accent conditions and six multiple-accent conditions were used. The accents were
Australian English, Chinese-accented English and Russian-accented English. These three
accents were permuted in six combinations to have the six multiple-accent conditions.
The results of Experiment 1 did not support the hypotheses. The low expertise learners
did not perform better in single-accent conditions and the high expertise learners did not
perform better in multiple-accent conditions. In Experiment 2 Russian-accented English
and Australian English were employed. The results partially supported the hypotheses. It
was found that the single-accent condition was not easier for the low expertise students
whereas the dual-accent condition was easier for the high and very high expertise
students. In Experiment 3 the low expertise group listening to Indian-accented English
found the accent condition easier than the low expertise group listening to both Indian and
Arabic-accented English. The high and very high expertise students learned more
listening to Arabic and Indian-accented English than listening to Indian-accented English
only. The low expertise individuals were more prone to be challenged by the novelty of
the dual-accent conditions. The findings of the experiments were explained in terms of
accent variability effect and expertise reversal effect in a CLT framework. Instructional
design, as pertaining to this thesis facilitated the naïve, as well as expert English language
learners’ abilities in extracting accent-independent global adaptation to English within a
CLT framework.

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Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation

I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to
archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the
University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the
provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I
also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this
thesis or dissertation.
I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in
Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only).

…………………………………………… ………………………………..…… ………..
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The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on
copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made
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circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research.

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award:

THIS SHEET IS TO BE GLUED TO THE INSIDE FRONT COVER OF THE THESIS

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Acknowledgements

I am deeply indebted to a number of individuals and institutions, without whose
generous support I could not have completed the writing of this thesis. Thanks are due first
and foremost to my supervisors, Emeritus Professor John Sweller and Dr. Wan NG who
provided guidance with the utmost generosity for the entire period of my candidature. Their
meticulous perusals of the thesis and their thoughtful comments have provided me with
invaluable guidance, without which this dissertation could not have been completed. Thanks
are also due to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (former AusAID), Australia, for
awarding me Australian Leadership Award. The financial support provided by this
scholarship enabled me to undertake this research project.
A special thanks to my family.I am deeply indebted to my husband Mia Mahmudur
Rahim. Mahmud, it is your constant encouragement and dedication and dream that are at the
heart of this thesis. You owe a lot.I am indebted to Raya and Rida, my nine and six year old
girls. In all the ups and downs they have patiently borne all the issues that came up from time
to time and encouraged me to move forward. Words cannot express how grateful I am to my
mother-in law, my mother, father and my brother for all of the sacrifices that you’ve made on
my behalf. Your prayer for me was what sustained me thus far. I am positive that my mother
and father would be the proudest in my achievement were they living to see me completing
the thesis. I would also like to thank all of my friends who motivated me to strive towards my
goal.
I collected data for my first experiment from three universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
I am indebted to the Chairmen of English Departments and the students of University of
Dhaka; Bangladesh University of Business and Technology; and Stamford University who
cordially supported me to collect the data. For the second and third experiments I worked
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with students from University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The Principal of the
Foundation Courses, Mr. Paul Sutton at UNSW Global deserves special thanks to support me.
The Deputy Principal Ms. Elizabeth Rosser who provided me with the logistics support for
organising the experiments will be remembered with gratitude. The undergraduate
participants who gave their time willingly and cheerfully, and without whose kind
participation the thesis would have remained incomplete: I am deeply indebted to these
students.

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Abstract

Accent variability is an emerging field of study in listening to varieties of English. Mutual
intelligibility of accent variations in monolingual, as well as multilingual settings may
become challenging for native as well as non-native speakers of English. In a CLT
framework this thesis examined the accent variability effect and the expertise reversal effect
in listening to native and foreign-accented English with different levels of expertise groups.
The three experiments reported in this thesis addressed issues of how accent variability
boosted meaningful understanding of listening comprehensions, and how instructional design
could aide learning in perceptual listening environments so that learners did not become
entangled in the novelty of the accents; at the same time maximising the learning of such
instructional procedures.In Experiment 1 three single-accent conditions and six multiple-
accent conditions were used. The accents were Australian English, Chinese-accented English
and Russian-accented English. These three accents were permuted in six combinations to
have the six multiple-accent conditions. The results of Experiment 1 did not support the
hypotheses. The low expertise learners did not perform better in single-accent conditions and
the high expertise learners did not perform better in multiple-accent conditions. In
Experiment 2 Russian-accented English and Australian English were employed. The results
partially supported the hypotheses. It was found that the single-accent condition was not
easier for the low expertise students whereas the dual-accent condition was easier for the high
and very high expertise students. In Experiment 3 the low expertise group listening to Indian-
accented English found the accent condition easier than the low expertise group listening to
both Indian and Arabic-accented English. The high and very high expertise students learned
more listening to Arabic and Indian-accented English than listening to Indian-accented
English only. The low expertise individuals were more prone to be challenged by the novelty
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of the dual-accent conditions. The findings of the experiments were explained in terms of
accent variability effect and expertise reversal effect in a CLT framework. Instructional
design, as pertaining to this thesis facilitated the naïve, as well as expert English language
learners’ abilities in extracting accent-independent global adaptation to English within a CLT
framework.

Key words
Cognitive Load theory, accent variations, variability effect, accent variability effect, and
expertise reversal effect.

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