Accent Bias (presentation)

accent

distinctive way of speaking associated with a particular group of people

• everyone has an accent → foreign or local

accent bias

unwarranted prejudice towards those who speak with an accent other than dominant accent

• implicit or explicit

• judgements about intelligence, economic status, attractiveness, social class

• may be positive or negative

• speakers of stigmatized accents face implications of accent bias

accent bias in schools

• racial and linguistic profiling

• teachers may hesitate to call on these students because they think they have nothing to contribute

  • bilingual students may be silenced

  • America values quantity of answer, East Asia tends to value quality of answer

• Students less likely to be placed in higher track classes

  • Determined by test scores and recommendations

• Young POC are marginalized

• Bias against AAVE - “considered inappropriate for thee classroom”

• Bias against Asian language speakers - rated “least positive”

• Bias against Latinx speakers - lower grades to Spanish speaking students

accent bias in the workforce

• most seen in interviews

• “a person speaking standard English is considered more employable than a person speaking AAVE”

• stereotypes → negative impacts on interview process → homogenous workforce → less diverse views