Abstract

This paper examines the way in which the Lingua Franca Core (LFC), together with selected features of delivery, can be shown to affect intelligibility and thus constitute what a sample of learners regard as "good" pronunciation (cf. Christiansen 2011b). We do this by making reference to a questionnaire-based survey in which respondents have to rate for intelligibility recorded extracts of NS and NNS. We compare the results of this survey with a detailed phonological analysis of the extracts, in an attempt to ascertain whether the presence of LFC features as opposed to features of NS pronunciation (see Jenner 1997) corresponds to respondents' assessment of intelligibility. It is found that, while the degree of LFC or NS pronunciation in a given extract is a reliable indicator of its general intelligibility to an L2 learner, other observable and measurable aspects of each extract's delivery (e.g. speed, length of pauses and average number of discernible words between pauses) need to be taken into account for a more precise analysis.