Student Perception of Professors with Accents

Abstract

Though research has been conducted that assess various factors relating to students’ perception of professors with accents, few address the impact personal and educational factors, if students’ confidence and outcomes are affected as a result or taking a course taught by non-native professors, and what strategies students use and find helpful when they experience difficulty understanding instruction due to accent. This study aimed to investigate the above variables by distributing surveys to students taking courses taught by non-native professors. Results indicated that gender, race, speaking more than one language, having exposure to non-native languages, and being interested in the subject were associated with a more favorable perception of the non- native professor. No significant relationship was found between age, region, major, class, attendance, punctuality, class set up, student outcomes, student confidence, previous non-native professor experience, or previous language learning attempts. Limitations regarding recruitment and survey materials are discussed as well as recommendations for future research.