Perception of native and non-native English accents by Czech listeners

This bachelor thesis explores the perception of native and non-native English accents by Czech listeners, focusing on their intelligibility and comprehensibility. Furthermore, it aims to scrutinise the scope of the Interlanguage Speech Intelligibility Benefit (ISIB). The theoretical part provides the necessary terminology to set a theoretical framework for the research conducted in the practical part of the thesis. In the practical part, audio recordings of native and non-native speech were played to low and high-proficient Czech users of English. Data obtained through the transcription and rating tasks was employed to assess the intelligibility and comprehensibility of each accent. The intelligibility scores provided evidence substantiating the matched ISIB. However, the mismatched ISIB was not proven to be effective. As for comprehensibility, the speech produced by native speakers was rated to be more comprehensible in contrast with non-native speech production. This outcome also demonstrates that intelligibility and comprehensibility are related yet partially independent. Lastly, this thesis sheds light on the importance of exposure to non-native English accents.