Volume 16, No. 1 Spring 2021

Listeners’ Variable Reactions to the Expression “Accent”

AUTHOR(S):

  • Rahul Chakraborty, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA
  • Olivia Corona, Bilingual SLP Intern with Austin Independent School District, Austin, TX, USA
  • William Hammers, Bilingual SLP, Laredo, TX, USA
  • Sallie Hobbs, Bilingual SLP Intern with Austin Independent School District, Austin, TX, USA
  • Parvinder K. Sublok, Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, VA, USA

ABSTRACT

This paper explores listeners’ potential bias to the expression, ‘accent,’ when listeners’ were asked to associate names of different variations of English accent with several unrelated psychophysical attributes. In addition, the elevated need for culturally calibrated sensitivity towards nonnative accents in the field of speech-language pathology is discussed. Participants responded to twenty-five questions, where only names of different nonnative varieties of accent and different psychophysical attributes were presented. No audio clips or acoustic cues of different accents were provided. One hundred and nineteen participants from varying backgrounds, including some from the field of speech-language pathology, participated. The study results indicate participants associated accents with various unrelated psychophysical attributes. Additionally, members from the speech-language pathology community also exhibited similar bias. This study offers a preliminary caution that, despite relentless focus on multicultural awareness, speech-language pathologists are not immune to accent related bias.

DOI:

DOWNLOAD FULL ARTICLE