Research concerning native speaker reactions to the speech of language learners has generally flowed from an interpersonal perspective (i.e. speaker/listener). On the other hand, the broader social psychological domain of language attitude research has typically been based on an intergroup perspective (i.e. ingroup/outgroup). The two perspectives are elaborated here and shown to provide complementary interpretations of evaluations of non-native speech. From the intergroup viewpoint, evaluations are based upon two processes: identification of the speaker's social group attributes and group-based inferences. The particularly complex role of identification for non-native speakers is discussed in detail. Within the interpersonal sphere, inferences regarding speaker competence and generalized negative affect are emphasized.

Recent research considers native reactions to various aspects of non-native speech and associated judgments regarding such speakers. The studies discussed here view listeners, speakers, and language from a variety of perspectives employing both objective and subjective research paradigms. Interlocutor variables which have been found to influence linguistic perceptions include age, social status, degree of bilingualism, and educational level. Even the linguistic sophistication of the listener may be important.

Studies of error gravity, which treat the perceived seriousness of error types in learners' interlanguage, may now be contrasted with data from several related and unrelated languages. The relative intelligibility of language samples has also been investigated as has the role of comprehension in the information of linguistic judgments.

Research reflecting listeners' personal impressions and reactions shows that non-natives tend to be downgraded in contexts ranging from the classroom to the workplace. This area of experimentation would be enhanced by exploration of the issues through studies in natural sociolinguistic contexts.

At least 40 studies have been conducted of the linguistic and conversational adjustments made by native speakers of a language using it for communication with non-native speakers. The modifications sometimes result in ungrammatical speech. Generally, however, they serve to provide input that is well-formed, a sort of linguistic and conversational cocoon for the neophyte second language acquirer. Most of the findings hold across age groups, social classes and settings, although some differences, both qualitative and quantitative, have been noted in these areas, too.

In making the adjustments described, native speakers appear to be reacting not to one, but to a combination of factors. These include the linguistic characteristics and comprehen-sibility of the non-native's interlanguage, but particularly his or her apparent comprehension of what the native speaker is saying. The adjustments appear to be necessary for second language acquisition, in that beginners seem unable to acquire from unmodified native speaker input. There is some doubt as to their sufficiency in this regard.

This study presents research on the affective reactions of native French speakers to 15 types of grammatical error made by an American speaking French. The native French judges are divided into three age groups, C.E.S. students, lycée students, and adults, and an error hierarchy is provided for each. Results show a continuum by age as to how these judges react to gender errors, that is errors of non-agreement with definite articles and adjectives with nouns. The younger, C.E.S. students are most sensitive to gender errors, lycée students slightly less sensitive, and adults the least irritated of the three, to the point that, for the adults, the five gender errors are rated as the five least serious errors in the error hierarchy. Possible explanations for this difference in error sensitivity are offered, with special attention to the possible influence of socioeconomic status. These results are compared to findings in English, French, German, and Spanish, with particular focus on results obtained in German by Politzer (1978) and Delisle (1982).

The present study investigated the role of first and second language fluency in subjective judgments of linguistic, social and professional competence of adult bilinguals in a military setting. We examined the use of five types of speech marker, commonly referred to as hesitation phenomena, among ten Francophone officer-cadets in their native and second language, English. The results confirmed the experimenters' a priori classification of the subjects as high or low fluency speakers. Anglophone and Francophone peer judges of various levels of proficiency in their second language listened to a tape assembled of fifteen second segments of each subject's speech production in the native and second language and completed a questionnaire composed of ten scales evaluating the subjects in three domains: linguistic, social, and professional. The results showed that the eighty-six judges evaluated the subjects more positively in their native than in their second language guises in all three areas. High fluency speakers were evaluated more highly than low fluency speakers. Judges reactions were shown to vary as a function of their degree of bilingualism and their minority versus majority group membership.