Accent (sociolinguistics)

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This article is about the pronunciation system of a particular group of people. For the prominence of a single syllable or word, see stress (linguistics). For the symbols on letters, see diacritic.
For other uses, see Accent (disambiguation).
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In sociolinguistics, an accent (/ˈæksᵻnt/ or /-ɛnt/) is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation.[1] An accent may be identified with the locality in which its speakers reside (a regional or geographical accent), the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class (a social accent), or influence from their first language (a foreign accent).[2]

Accents typically differ in quality of the voice, pronunciation and distinction of vowels and consonants, stress, and prosody. Although grammar, semantics, vocabulary, and other language characteristics often vary concurrently with accent, the word 'accent' may refer specifically to the differences in pronunciation, whereas the word "dialect" encompasses the broader set of linguistic differences. Often "accent" is a subset of "dialect".[1]

History[edit]

As human beings spread out into isolated communities, stresses and peculiarities develop. Over time, they can develop into identifiable accents. In North America, the interaction of people from many ethnic backgrounds contributed to the formation of the different varieties of North American accents. It is difficult to measure or predict how long it takes an accent to formulate. Accents in the US, Canada and Australia, for example, developed from the combinations of different accents and languages in various societies and their effect on the various pronunciations of British settlers.[3]

In many cases, the accents of non-English settlers from the British Isles affected the accents of the different colonies quite differently. Irish, Scottish and Welsh immigrants had accents which greatly affected the vowel pronunciation of certain areas of Australia and Canada.[3]

Development[edit]

Main article: Sound change

Children are able to take on accents relatively quickly. Children of immigrant families, for example, generally have a more native-like pronunciation than their parents, but both children and parents may have a noticeable non-native accent.[4] They generally differ: the parents' accent tends to be influenced by the sound system of their native language whilst the child is more inclined to apply hyperpronunciation resulting from their need to correct their parents' shortcomings in fluency.[citation needed] Accents seem to remain relatively malleable until a person's early twenties, after which a person's accent seems to become more entrenched.[3]

All the same, accents are not fixed even in adulthood. An acoustic analysis by Jonathan Harrington of Elizabeth II's Royal Christmas Messages revealed that the speech patterns of even so conservative a figure as a monarch can continue to change over her lifetime.[5]

Non-native accents[edit]

The most important factor in predicting the degree to which the accent will be noticeable (or strong) is the age at which the non-native language was learned.[6][7] The critical period theory states that if learning takes place after the critical period (usually considered around puberty) for acquiring native-like pronunciation, an individual is unlikely to acquire a native-like accent.[6] This theory, however, is quite controversial among researchers. Although many subscribe to some form of the critical period, they either place it earlier than puberty or consider it more of a critical “window,” which may vary from one individual to another and depend on factors other than age, such as length of residence, similarity of the non-native language to the native language, and the frequency with which both languages are used.[7]

Nevertheless, children as young as 6 at the time of moving to another country often speak with a noticeable non-native accent as adults.[4] There are also rare instances of individuals who are able to pass for native speakers even if they learned their non-native language in early adulthood.[8] However, neurological constraints associated with brain development appear to limit most non-native speakers’ ability to sound native-like.[9] Most researchers agree that for adults, acquiring a native-like accent in a non-native language is near impossible.[6]

Social factors[edit]

When a group defines a standard pronunciation, speakers who deviate from it are often said to "speak with an accent". However, everyone speaks with an accent.[2][10] People from the United States would "speak with an accent" from the point of view of an Australian, and vice versa. Accents such as BBC English or General American or Standard American may sometimes be erroneously designated in their countries of origin as "accentless" to indicate that they offer no obvious clue to the speaker's regional or social background.[2]

Being understood[edit]

Many teachers of English as a second language neglect to teach speech/pronunciation.[11] Many adult and near-adult learners of second languages have unintelligible speech patterns that may interfere with their education, profession, and social interactions.[11] 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.[11]

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

  • Pronunciation isn't important: "This is patently false from any perspective."[11] 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.[11]
  • Students will pick it up on their own: "Some will learn to pronounce the second language intelligibly; many will not."[11]

Inadequate instruction in speech/pronunciation can result in a complete breakdown in communication.[11] 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.[11]

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.[11]

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.[11]

Prestige[edit]

Certain accents are perceived to carry more prestige in a society than other accents. 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.[12] 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,[13] 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.[14] However, in linguistics, there is no differentiation among accents in regard to their prestige, aesthetics, or correctness. All languages and accents are linguistically equal.[15]

Accent stereotyping and prejudice[edit]

Stereotypes refer to specific characteristics, traits, and roles that a group and its members are believed to possess.[16] Stereotypes can be both positive and negative, although negative are more common.

Stereotypes may result in prejudice, which is defined as having negative attitudes toward a group and its members.[17] Individuals with non-standard accents often have to deal with both negative stereotypes and prejudice because of an accent.[18] 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.[18][19][20][21][22] 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.[citation needed]

Accent discrimination[edit]

Discrimination refers to specific behaviors or actions directed at a group or its individual members based solely on the group membership. In accent discrimination, one's way of speaking is used as a basis for arbitrary evaluations and judgments.[23] 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]

Speakers with certain accents often experience discrimination in housing and employment.[24][25] 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.[26] In business settings, individuals with non-standard accents are more likely to be evaluated negatively.[27] 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.[28] On average, however, students taught by non-native English speakers do not underperform when compared to those taught by native speakers of English.[29]

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.[25][30]

Legal implications[edit]

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 his or her communication skills that are necessary to the effective business operation.[10] 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.[31]

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.[32]

Acting and accents[edit]

Main article: Acting and accents

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

Accents may have stereotypical associations. For example, in Disney animated films mothers and fathers typically speak with white middle class American or English accents.[2] English accents in Disney animated films are frequently employed to serve one of two purposes, slapstick comedy or evil genius.[33][better source needed] Examples include Aladdin (the Sultan and Jafar, respectively) and The Lion King (Zazu and Scar, respectively), among others.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b The New Oxford American Dictionary. Second Edition. Oxford University Press. 2005. ISBN 0-19-517077-6. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Lippi-Green, R. (1997). English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-11476-4. 
  3. ^ a b c "Ask a Linguist FAQ: Accents". LINGUIST List. Archived from the original on 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2016-04-10. 
  4. ^ a b Flege, James Emil; David Birdsong; Ellen Bialystok; Molly Mack; Hyekyung Sung; Kimiko Tsukada (2006). "Degree of foreign accent in English sentences produced by Korean children and adults". Journal of Phonetics. 34 (2): 153–175. doi:10.1016/j.wocn.2005.05.001. 
  5. ^ Harrington, Jonathan (2006). "An Acoustic Analysis of 'Happy Tensing' in the Queen's Christmas Broadcasts". Journal of Phonetics. 34 (4): 439–57. doi:10.1016/j.wocn.2005.08.001. 
  6. ^ a b c Scovel, T. (2000). "A critical review of the critical period research." Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 20, 213–223.
  7. ^ a b Piske, T., MacKay, I. R. A., & Flege, J. E. (2001). "Factors affecting degree of foreign accent in an L2: A review." Journal of Phonetics, 29, 191–215.
  8. ^ Bongaerts, T., van Summeren, C., Planken, B., & Schils, E. (1997). "Age and ultimate attainment in the pronunciation of a foreign language." Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 447–465.
  9. ^ Long, M. H. (1990). "Maturational constraints on language development." Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 12, 251–285.
  10. ^ a b Matsuda, M. J. (1991). "Voices of America: Accent, antidiscrimination law, and a jurisprudence for the last reconstruction." Yale Law Journal, 100, 1329–1407.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Morley, Joan. "Acquisition, instruction, standards, variation, and accent" Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1996: Linguistics, language acquisition, and language variation: current trends and future prospects. Comp. James E. Alatis. Georgetown University Press. pp 140–160. https://books.google.com/books?id=R8jZ62kA9akC
  12. ^ "Accents". Indiana University. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-12. 
  13. ^ (Portuguese) To know a language is really about separating correct from awry? Language is a living organism that varies by context and goes far beyond a collection of rules and norms of how to speak and write Archived December 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Museu da Língua Portuguesa. Page 3.
  14. ^ (Portuguese) Linguistic prejudice and the surprising (academic and formal) unity of Brazilian Portuguese
  15. ^ Edwards, J. (1999). "Refining our understanding of language attitudes." Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18, 101–110.
  16. ^ Hamilton, D. L., & Sherman, S. J. (1996). "Perceiving persons and groups." Psychological Review, 103, 336–355.
  17. ^ Biernat, M., & Dovidio, J. F. (2000). "Stigma and stereotypes." In T. F. Heatherton, R. E. Kleck, M. R. Hebl, & J. G. Hull (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Stigma (pp. 88–125). New York: Guilford.
  18. ^ a b Gluszek, A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2010). "The way they speak: Stigma of non-native accents in communication." Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 214–237.
  19. ^ Bradac, J. J. (1990). "Language attitudes and impression formation." In H. Giles & W. P. Robinson (Eds.), Handbook of Language and Social psychology (pp. 387–412). London: John Wiley.
  20. ^ Bresnahan, M. J., Ohashi, R., Nebashi, R., Liu, W. Y., & Shearman, S. M. (2002). "Attitudinal and affective response toward accented English." Language and Communication, 22, 171–185.
  21. ^ Cargile, A. C., & Giles, H. (1997). "Understanding language attitudes: Exploring listener affect and identity." Language and Communication, 17, 195–217.
  22. ^ Nesdale, D., & Rooney, R. (1996). "Evaluations and stereotyping of accented speakers by pre-adolescent children." Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 15, 133–154.
  23. ^ Ng, S. H. (2007). "Language-based discrimination: Blatant and subtle forms." Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 26, 106–122.
  24. ^ Zhao, B., Ondrich, J., & Yinger, J. (2006). "Why do real estate brokers continue to discriminate? Evidence from the 2000 Housing Discrimination Study." Journal of Urban Economics, 59, 394–419.
  25. ^ a b Rubin, D. L. (2002). "Help! My professor (or doctor or boss) doesn’t speak English." In J. N. Martin, T. K. Nakayama, & L. A. Flores (Eds.), Readings in Intercultural Communication: Experiences and Contexts (pp. 127–137). Boston: McGraw Hill.
  26. ^ de la Zerda, N., & Hopper, R. (1979). "Employment interviewers' reactions to Mexican American speech." Communication Monographs, 46, 126–134.
  27. ^ Tsalikis, J., Ortiz-Buonafina, M., & La Tour, M. S. (1992). "The role of accent on the credibility and effectiveness of the international business-person: The case of Guatemala." International Marketing Review, 9, 57–72.
  28. ^ Mastitis, A. (2005). "U.S. academic institutions and perceived effectiveness of foreign-born faculty." Journal of Economic Issues, 39, 151–176.
  29. ^ Fleisher, B., Hashimoto, M., & Weinberg, B. A. (2002). "Foreign GTAs can be effective teachers of economics." Journal of Economic Education, 33, 299–325.
  30. ^ Rubin, D. L. (1992). "Non language factors affecting undergraduates' judgments of nonnative English-speaking teaching assistants." Research in Higher Education, 33, 511–531.
  31. ^ Nguyen, B. B.-D. (1993). "Accent discrimination and the Test of Spoken English: A call for an objective assessment of the comprehensibility of nonnative speakers." California Law Review, 81, 1325–1361.
  32. ^ "Race, Racism and the Law". Courtroom: Court sanctioned Racial Stereotyping, 18 Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal 185–210, 185–188 (Spring, 2002)(179 Footnotes). Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-12. 
  33. ^ il viaggiatore (September 12, 2011) [January 15, 2003]. "Why Villains in Movies Have English Accents". h2g2. Retrieved 2013-04-28. 

Further reading[edit]

  • Bragg, Melvyn (2003). The Adventure of English, 500AD to 2000: The Biography of a Language. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-82991-5. 
  • Giles, H., & Coupland, N. (1991). Language: Contexts and Consequences. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
  • Lindemann, S. (2003). "Koreans, Chinese or Indians? Attitudes and ideologies about non-native English speakers in the United States." Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7, 348–364.
  • Lindemann, S. (2005). "Who speaks 'broken English'? US undergraduates' perception of non-native English." International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15, 187–212.
  • Milroy, James; and Lesley Milroy (2005). Authority in Language: Investigating Standard English (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-17413-9. 
  • Moyer, A. (1999). "Ultimate attainment in L2 phonology: The critical factors of age, motivation and instruction." Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 81–108.
  • Scovel, T. (1988). A Time to Speak: A Psycho linguistic Inquiry into the Critical Period for Human Speech. Cambridge, England: New bury House.
  • Wated, G., & Sanchez, J. I. (2006). "The role of accent as a work stress or on attitudinal and health-related work outcomes." International Journal of Stress Management, 13, 329–350.
  • Wells, J C. 1982. Accents of English. (3 volumes). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Wells's home pages also have a lot of information about phonetics and accents.]

External links[edit]

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