Where Are You From? An Investigation into the Intersectionality of Accent Strength and Nationality Status on Perceptions of Non-native Speakers in Britain
Abstract
We explore how interpersonal and intergroup perceptions are affected by a non-native speaker’s accent strength and the status of their home country. When nationality information was absent (Study 1), natives who heard a strong (vs. weak) accent rated the speaker as warmer but immigrants as a group as more threatening. This result was replicated when the speaker’s nationality was familiar (Study 2) but in this study, country status further shaped accent-based perceptions: the strong (vs. weak) accented speaker evoked more positive interpersonal perceptions when her country status was low, but more negative intergroup perceptions when her country status was high. When the status of the speaker’s nationality was manipulated (Study 3), we replicated the interpersonal perceptions found in Study 1 and the intergroup perceptions found in Study 2. Findings support a holistic approach to investigating perceptions of non-native speakers: one that considers nationality as well as accent strength.Citation
Birney, M. E., Rabinovich, A., & Morton, T. A. (2020). Where are you from? An investigation into the intersectionality of accent strength and nationality status on perceptions of non-native speakers in Britain. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 39(4), 495-515. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X20932628Publisher
SageAdditional Links
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0261927X20932628Type
ArticleEISSN
1552-6526ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/0261927X20932628
Scopus Count
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