Second language comprehensibility and accentedness are highly complex phenomena, and numerous studies have been conducted to better understand these constructs. However, research has seldom addressed L2 comprehensibility and accentedness in relation to speakers' proficiency in the target language. This study explores L2 English comprehensibility and accentedness across three proficiency levels. The speakers were 60 teenaged Finns, half of them speaking Finnish as their L1 and half speaking Finland-Swedish as their L1. Using 20-s speech samples, the comprehensibility and accentedness of the speakers were rated by 34 English-speaking teenagers on a 9-point scale. Comparisons were made regarding comprehensibility and accentedness between L1 Finnish and L1 Finland-Swedish speakers, and the data were also analysed for a possible relationship between the ratings and the speakers' overall oral proficiency in English. The results revealed a surprising difference between the language groups for speakers at proficiency levels B1–B2: Despite an equal proficiency assessment, L1 Finland-Swedish speakers were rated as more comprehensible and less accented than L1 Finnish speakers. Overall, the ratings were found to correlate with the speakers’ oral proficiency, but the correlations were rather weak and the steps from one proficiency level to another often had only small effects on comprehensibility and accentedness.

第二语言的可理解性和口音是高度复杂的现象，已经进行了大量研究以更好地理解这些结构。然而，研究很少涉及与说话者的目标语言熟练程度相关的 L2 可理解性和口音。本研究探讨了三个熟练程度的 L2 英语可理解性和口音。演讲者是 60 名青少年芬兰人，其中一半说芬兰语作为他们的第一语言，另一半说芬兰-瑞典语作为他们的第一语言。使用 20 秒的语音样本，34 名讲英语的青少年以 9 分制对说话者的可理解性和口音进行了评分。对 L1 芬兰语和 L1 芬兰-瑞典语使用者之间的可理解性和口音进行了比较，并且还对数据进行了分析，以确定评分与说话者的整体英语口语能力之间可能存在的关系。结果显示，对于 B1 到 B2 熟练度水平的说话者来说，语言组之间存在惊人的差异：尽管熟练程度评估相同，但 L1 芬兰-瑞典语人士被评为比 L1 芬兰语人士更易理解且口音更少。总体而言，发现评级与说话者的口语熟练程度相关，但相关性相当弱，而且从一个熟练程度到另一个熟练程度的步骤通常对可理解性和口音的影响很小。尽管熟练程度评估相同，但 L1 芬兰-瑞典语人士被评为比 L1 芬兰语人士更易理解且口音更少。总体而言，发现评级与说话者的口语熟练程度相关，但相关性相当弱，而且从一个熟练程度到另一个熟练程度的步骤通常对可理解性和口音的影响很小。尽管熟练程度评估相同，但 L1 芬兰-瑞典语人士被评为比 L1 芬兰语人士更易理解且口音更少。总体而言，发现评级与说话者的口语熟练程度相关，但相关性相当弱，而且从一个熟练程度到另一个熟练程度的步骤通常对可理解性和口音的影响很小。