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Accent perception in heritage speakers of Italian and migrants from Italy

Krieger, Svenja ; Geiss, Miriam and Kupisch, Tanja LU (2026) In Heritage Language Journal 23(1).
Abstract
Little is known about how heritage speakers (HS s) and first-generation migrants perceive global accents, including those of their own peers. Our study compares the accent perception of 107 Italian-speaking individuals belonging to three groups: HS s, migrants, and homeland controls. These three groups rated speech samples from second language learners (L2ers), homeland speakers, and other HS s. The results revealed that migrants perceive accents similarly to homeland raters. While heritage raters show the same trends as the other two rater groups, there are some minor differences in perception, as they identify L2ers and HS s less often as foreign. These findings indicate that intensive language contact from early childhood on may lead to... (More)
Little is known about how heritage speakers (HS s) and first-generation migrants perceive global accents, including those of their own peers. Our study compares the accent perception of 107 Italian-speaking individuals belonging to three groups: HS s, migrants, and homeland controls. These three groups rated speech samples from second language learners (L2ers), homeland speakers, and other HS s. The results revealed that migrants perceive accents similarly to homeland raters. While heritage raters show the same trends as the other two rater groups, there are some minor differences in perception, as they identify L2ers and HS s less often as foreign. These findings indicate that intensive language contact from early childhood on may lead to different conceptions of ‘nativeness’ compared to homeland raters. Such a difference may arise due to deviations in the perceptual system or sociolinguistic factors. By contrast, migrants’ intense language contact during adulthood does not change their perception of a ‘native’ accent. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
accent, Italian, intonation, heritage speakers
in
Heritage Language Journal
volume
23
issue
1
pages
25 pages
publisher
Language Resource Center of UCLA and the UC Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching
ISSN
1550-7076
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
95599aeb-edd0-4b6c-a10d-93ee99936d46
alternative location
https://brill.com/view/journals/hlj/23/1/article-p1_1.xml?srsltid=AfmBOooolxmcQRXUo-oazaFJKlSf-QhUQrQP-qPU4dKSrvcKdGft3Vsx
date added to LUP
2026-01-29 18:17:32
date last changed
2026-02-04 14:11:00
@article{95599aeb-edd0-4b6c-a10d-93ee99936d46,
  abstract     = {{Little is known about how heritage speakers (HS s) and first-generation migrants perceive global accents, including those of their own peers. Our study compares the accent perception of 107 Italian-speaking individuals belonging to three groups: HS s, migrants, and homeland controls. These three groups rated speech samples from second language learners (L2ers), homeland speakers, and other HS s. The results revealed that migrants perceive accents similarly to homeland raters. While heritage raters show the same trends as the other two rater groups, there are some minor differences in perception, as they identify L2ers and HS s less often as foreign. These findings indicate that intensive language contact from early childhood on may lead to different conceptions of ‘nativeness’ compared to homeland raters. Such a difference may arise due to deviations in the perceptual system or sociolinguistic factors. By contrast, migrants’ intense language contact during adulthood does not change their perception of a ‘native’ accent.}},
  author       = {{Krieger, Svenja and Geiss, Miriam and Kupisch, Tanja}},
  issn         = {{1550-7076}},
  keywords     = {{accent; Italian; intonation; heritage speakers}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Language Resource Center of UCLA and the UC Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching}},
  series       = {{Heritage Language Journal}},
  title        = {{Accent perception in heritage speakers of Italian and migrants from Italy}},
  url          = {{https://brill.com/view/journals/hlj/23/1/article-p1_1.xml?srsltid=AfmBOooolxmcQRXUo-oazaFJKlSf-QhUQrQP-qPU4dKSrvcKdGft3Vsx}},
  volume       = {{23}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}