Accent (sociolinguistics)

Many teachers of, for example, English as a second language neglect to teach speech/pronunciation.[18] Many adult and near-adult learners of second languages have unintelligible speech patterns that may interfere with their education, profession, and social interactions.[18] Pronunciation in a second or foreign language involves more than the correct articulation of individual sounds. It involves producing a wide range of complex and subtle distinctions which relate sound to meaning at several levels.[18]

Teaching of speech/pronunciation is neglected in part because of the following myths:

• Pronunciation is not important: "This is patently false from any perspective."[18] Speech/Pronunciation forms the vehicle for transmitting the speaker's meaning. If the listener does not understand the message, no communication takes place, and although there are other factors involved, one of the most important is the intelligibility of the speaker's pronunciation.[18]
• Students will pick it up on their own: "Some will learn to pronounce the second language intelligibly; many will not."[18]

Inadequate instruction in speech/pronunciation can result in a complete breakdown in communication.[18] The proliferation of commercial "accent reduction" services is seen as a sign that many ESL teachers are not meeting their students' needs for speech/pronunciation instruction.[18]

The goals of speech/pronunciation instruction should include: to help the learner speak in a way that is easy to understand and does not distract the listener, to increase the self-confidence of the learner, and to develop the skills to self-monitor and adapt one's own speech.[18]

Even when the listener does understand the speaker, the presence of an accent that is difficult to understand can produce anxiety in the listener that he will not understand what comes next, and cause him to end the conversation earlier or avoid difficult topics.[18] "In speech the perceptual salience of the accent overrides other measures of competence and performance," wrote Ingrid Piller.[19]

Intelligibility of speech, in comparison to native-like accent, has been experimentally reported to be of greater importance for the second language speakers. As such ways of increasing intelligibility of speech has been recommended by some researchers within the field.[12] A strong accent does not necessarily impede intelligibility despite common perceptions.[16]

Certain accents, particularly those of European heritage, are perceived to carry more prestige in a society than other accents, such that some speakers may as a result consciously adopt them.[20] This is often due to their association with the elite part of society. For example, in the United Kingdom, Received Pronunciation of the English language is associated with the traditional upper class.[21] The same can be said about the predominance of Southeastern Brazilian accents in the case of the Brazilian variant of the Portuguese language, especially considering the disparity of prestige between most caipira-influenced speech, associated with rural environment and lack of formal education,[22] together with the Portuguese spoken in some other communities of lower socioeconomic strata such as favela dwellers, and other sociocultural variants such as middle and upper class paulistano (dialect spoken from Greater São Paulo to the East) and fluminense (dialect spoken in the state of Rio de Janeiro) to the other side, inside Southeastern Brazil itself.[23]

In linguistics, there is no differentiation among accents in regard to their prestige, aesthetics, or correctness. All languages and accents are linguistically equal.[24]

Negative perceptions of accents, the basis of which may relate to the speaker's social identity, can manifest as stereotyping, harassment or employment discrimination.[20]

Researchers consistently show that people with non-native accents are judged as less intelligent, less competent, less educated, having poor English/language skills, and unpleasant to listen to.[25][26][27][28][29] Not only people with standard accents subscribe to these beliefs and attitudes, but individuals with accents also often stereotype against their own or others' accents.[30] Research demonstrates that an average listener is adept at detecting an accent typical of a language differing from their own.[20]

Accents have even found to be more impactful on perception of babies than known perceptual dividers like race, religion, or sex. In a PNAS study, babies were told to choose a toy from two recorded speakers with varying characteristics. Ahead of all variables tested, including race and gender, recordings speaking with an accent native to the child were selected at a considerably higher frequency.[31]

Unlike other forms of discrimination, there are no strong norms against accent discrimination in the general society. Rosina Lippi-Green writes,

Accent serves as the first point of gate keeping because we are forbidden, by law and social custom, and perhaps by a prevailing sense of what is morally and ethically right, from using race, ethnicity, homeland or economics more directly. We have no such compunctions about language, thus, accent becomes a litmus test for exclusion, and excuse to turn away, to recognize the other.[2]

In the English speaking world, Speakers with certain accents often experience discrimination in housing and employment.[32][33] For example, speakers who have foreign or ethnic-minority accents are less likely to be called back by landlords and are more likely to be assigned by employers to lower status positions than those with standard accents.[34] In business settings, individuals with non-standard accents are more likely to be evaluated negatively.[35] Accent discrimination is also present in educational institutions. For example, non-native speaking graduate students, lecturers, and professors, across college campuses in the US have been targeted for being unintelligible because of accent.[36] Second language speakers have reported being discriminated against, or feeling marginalized for, when they attempted to find a job in higher ranking positions mainly because of their accents.[12] On average, however, students taught by non-native English speakers do not underperform when compared to those taught by native speakers of English.[37] Some English native-speaker students in Canada reported a preference for non-native speaker instructors as long as the instructor's speech is intelligible. This was due to the psychological impacts such circumstances has on the students requiring them to pay closer attention to the instructor to ensure they understand them.[12]

Studies have shown the perception of the accent, not the accent by itself, often results in negative evaluations of speakers. In a study conducted by Rubin (1992), students listened to a taped lecture recorded by a native English speaker with a standard accent. They were then shown an image of the "lecturer", sometimes Asian-looking, sometimes white. Participants in the study who saw the Asian picture believed that they had heard an accented lecturer and performed worse on a task that measured lecture comprehension. Negative evaluations may reflect the prejudices rather than real issues with understanding accents.[33][38]

In the United States, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on national origin, implying accents. However, employers may claim that a person's accent impairs their communication skills that are necessary to the effective business operation.[15] The courts often rely on the employer's claims or use judges’ subjective opinions when deciding whether the (potential) employee's accent would interfere with communication or performance, without any objective proof that accent was or might be a hindrance.[39]

Kentucky's highest court in the case of Clifford vs. Commonwealth held that a white police officer, who had not seen the black defendant allegedly involved in a drug transaction, could, nevertheless, identify him as a participant by saying that a voice on an audiotape "sounded black". The police officer based this "identification" on the fact that the defendant was the only African American man in the room at the time of the transaction and that an audio-tape contained the voice of a man the officer said "sounded black" selling crack cocaine to a European American informant planted by the police.[40]

Actors are often called upon to speak a language variety other than their own. For instance, an actor may portray a character of some nationality other than their own by adopting into their native language the phonological profile typical of the nationality to be portrayed, in what is commonly known as "speaking with an accent".

Accents may have stereotypical associations in entertainment. For example, in Disney animated films, mothers and fathers typically speak with White, middle-class American or English accents.[2] On another note, English accents in Disney animated films are frequently employed for one of two purposes: slapstick comedy and the portrayal of evil geniuses.[41] Examples of this can be seen in characters from the films Aladdin (the Sultan and Jafar, respectively) and The Lion King (Zazu and Scar, respectively), among others.