Leiden University Student Repository

Buijze, Jonneke (2026)

Verengelsing and the infiltration of English in the Dutch accent: A study into phonetic L2 interference on the Dutch use of Dutch students of English

Bachelor thesis | Engelse taal en cultuur (BA)

This thesis investigates the phonetic effects of second language interference on a first language. I researched whether the native language use of Dutch students of English was affected by their common use of English, by researching whether they pronounced the b and the d written at the end of Dutch words differently, since these are pronounced voiced in English but unvoiced in Dutch. Previous literature has been written about first language interference in second language learners, but little has been written about the reverse of this, specifically phonetically. Anglicization is a topic that is prevalent in Dutch culture, and both its benefits and its drawbacks are discussed often. A large part of this is the increasing prominence of daily English language use within the Dutch language. By making five students of English read out a text containing fourteen words ending in b or d, I could measure the exact time they took to pronounce these letters. I made five students of Dutch read...Show moreThis thesis investigates the phonetic effects of second language interference on a first language. I researched whether the native language use of Dutch students of English was affected by their common use of English, by researching whether they pronounced the b and the d written at the end of Dutch words differently, since these are pronounced voiced in English but unvoiced in Dutch. Previous literature has been written about first language interference in second language learners, but little has been written about the reverse of this, specifically phonetically. Anglicization is a topic that is prevalent in Dutch culture, and both its benefits and its drawbacks are discussed often. A large part of this is the increasing prominence of daily English language use within the Dutch language. By making five students of English read out a text containing fourteen words ending in b or d, I could measure the exact time they took to pronounce these letters. I made five students of Dutch read out the same text so that I could compare the two groups of speakers. My analysis showed that the English students took longer to pronounce the final b and d consonants than the Dutch students did. I can conclude that the second language of the English students did interfere with their native Dutch language use. This ties in with the theory that verengelsing has progressed into the accents of Dutch people.Show less

Author

Buijze, Jonneke

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Literature

Supervisors

Smakman, D

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en