Institute of Wellbeing :: Does Imitating accents make for easier understanding?

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Rachana Total Posts: Joined: Nov 2010	Britons may rightly have earned a reputation for being the laziest linguists while on holiday but it appears we may be on to something. Researchers from the University of Manchester and Holland’s Radboud University, in Nijmegen, set up experiments with Dutch students, putting them into conversational situations with strangers adopting a variety of accents. Researchers found those who imitated the accents and language patterns of people they were in conversation with understood them better . Do you feel adopting a variety of accents and tones of the person you are in conversation with really helps in understanding them better? In real life have you noticed instances when the one with a less pronounced accent adopts the style and tone of the other? Posted on December 08, 2010 at 1:16 PM
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Does Imitating accents make for easier understanding?

Rachana

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Joined: Nov 2010

Britons may rightly have earned a reputation for being the laziest linguists while on holiday but it appears we may be on to something.

Researchers from the University of Manchester and Holland’s Radboud University, in Nijmegen, set up experiments with Dutch students, putting them into conversational situations with strangers adopting a variety of accents.

Researchers found those who imitated the accents and language patterns of people they were in conversation with understood them better grin .

Do you feel adopting a variety of accents and tones of the person you are in conversation with really helps in understanding them better? In real life have you noticed instances when the one with a less pronounced accent adopts the style and tone of the other?