That Sounds Familiar!: An Analysis of People's Stances Toward 'Accent'
Additional Funding Sources
The project described was supported by the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program through the U.S. Department of Education under Award No. P217A170273.
Presentation Date
7-2020
Abstract
People who have non-prototypical accents tend to often be judged by their accent, and they are usually categorized within seconds as the "other" - the person who is not part of the group, as opposed to those who have more common accents. As more natural interactions happen between these two groups, we can study how much familiarity plays a role in these interactions and first impressions. This research will explore when people listen to others for the first time and if they are more interested in their accents, or their otherness, and where that stance (the different ways people position themselves) is coming from. Through a virtual, semi-structured interview process that includes listening to various audio samples, this study will look at how people talk and opine about other people's accents, specifically from regions where English is the dominant language. This project would try to clarify and find answers to how people form their impressions around people and their accent, and if they haven't heard it, if they make a familiar connection or not.
With a linguistic approach, different ideologies will be analyzed to further explore linguistic identity, stance, and familiarity and how they are connected. This research project will infer what elements are at play play when people consider accents familiar. It would analyze people's stances while talking about both familiar and unfamiliar accents, allowing the study to analyze how familiarity plays a role in forming those perceptions. Claims of authority, social interactions, and personal connections will be analyzed to further discuss the ways people take a stance toward different dialects. This research would try to answer how different people react to diverse linguistic features, how they make connections to them, and how linguistic stances might form.
That Sounds Familiar!: An Analysis of People's Stances Toward 'Accent'
People who have non-prototypical accents tend to often be judged by their accent, and they are usually categorized within seconds as the "other" - the person who is not part of the group, as opposed to those who have more common accents. As more natural interactions happen between these two groups, we can study how much familiarity plays a role in these interactions and first impressions. This research will explore when people listen to others for the first time and if they are more interested in their accents, or their otherness, and where that stance (the different ways people position themselves) is coming from. Through a virtual, semi-structured interview process that includes listening to various audio samples, this study will look at how people talk and opine about other people's accents, specifically from regions where English is the dominant language. This project would try to clarify and find answers to how people form their impressions around people and their accent, and if they haven't heard it, if they make a familiar connection or not.
With a linguistic approach, different ideologies will be analyzed to further explore linguistic identity, stance, and familiarity and how they are connected. This research project will infer what elements are at play play when people consider accents familiar. It would analyze people's stances while talking about both familiar and unfamiliar accents, allowing the study to analyze how familiarity plays a role in forming those perceptions. Claims of authority, social interactions, and personal connections will be analyzed to further discuss the ways people take a stance toward different dialects. This research would try to answer how different people react to diverse linguistic features, how they make connections to them, and how linguistic stances might form.