Accentedness in heritage and societal languages: The role of early exposure and bilingual experience

Abstract

This study examines how the perceived accentedness of English–Hebrew bilingual adult speakers, in both their heritage language (HL-English) and societal language (SL-Hebrew), is shaped by their early bilingual experiences. The accents of two speaker groups with one or two native English-speaking parents (simultaneous or early sequential bilinguals, respectively) were evaluated by monolingual listeners using both naturalistic speech samples and lists of words with contrasting phonemes. Results show that while accentedness in SL-Hebrew was generally low across participants, simultaneous bilinguals exhibited significantly less accentedness in their SL than early sequential bilinguals, underscoring the phonological benefits of SL exposure from birth. In contrast, HL-English exhibited greater accentedness overall, with no significant differences between bilingual profiles. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that early English input affected HL-English accentedness indirectly via family communication patterns and lexical proficiency, while socioeconomic status had a direct effect. These findings highlight the long-term impact of early language exposure patterns on phonological outcomes in adulthood and demonstrate the value of using multiple speech tasks and analytic methods to uncover subtle effects in early bilinguals.