Extending the fluency principle: Factors that increase listeners’ processing fluency positively bias their language attitudes

Three experiments tested the proposition that factors that make foreign-accented speech easier to process (i.e., increase listeners’ processing fluency) positively bias listeners’ evaluations of foreign-accented speakers. Participants listened to an audio recording of a Mandarin-accented speaker either in the presence or absence of subtitles (Studies 1 and 2) or were either familiar or unfamiliar with the content of the message prior to listening to the recording (Study 3). Compared to the unsubtitled/unfamiliar conditions, the subtitled/familiar conditions increased listeners’ fluency, elicited more positive affect, and resulted in more favorable language attitudes. The effects of subtitles/familiarity on language attitudes were mediated by fluency and affect. An extension of the fluency principle is proposed.