Attitudes Towards Nonnative Accents In The Field Of Speech Language Pathology

The number of individuals in the United States that speak a language other than English has dramatically increased from 23.1 million people in 1980 (Ryan, 2013) to approximately 67,802,345 in 2018 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019b). Approximately 21.6% of the US population speak a language other than English (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019a). Unfortunately, the number of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) that identified themselves as speaking a language other than English is very low relative to the population. In 2020, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) reported that 16,656 (8.0%) of its members have met the ASHA definition of bilingual service provider (having a native or almost native proficiency in a second language) (ASHA, 2021a). There is a lack of bilingual providers within the field of speech-language pathology. Whether the second language is English or a different one, speakers of that second language may be identified as speaking with an accent. There is insufficient research available about SLPs and speech-language pathology students that speak English with a nonnative accent. The limited research available shows that certain areas within the scope of practice in speech-language pathology are perceived as not being properly evaluated and treated by clinicians with accents. This present study sought to determine the beliefs of professionals and SLP students in California about whether or not evaluation and treatment of speech, language, cognition, and swallowing disorders could be impacted if the SLP or SLP student speaks English with a nonnative accent. To collect data, three online surveys were distributed: the bilingual survey, the monolingual survey, and the clinical educator survey. A total of 116 responses were received from students and clinical directors in California. The results indicated that the majority of participants believed that speaking with a nonnative English accent is not an impediment to evaluate and treat clients; however, areas that highly involved speech-sounds were perceived as being the most impacted compared to the other areas.

This study investigated the attitudes of Native and Non-Native Speakers towards non-native accents of English. The providers of the non-native accents were 8 second language speakers of English of Eastern European, Latino, South-East Asian and Arabic first languages, including 4 males and 4 females. The participants were 32 Native Speakers of General American English and 39 Non-Native Speakers from East and South-East Asia. The instrument included bi-polar adjective scales, divided into two main factors, Manner of Speaking and The Speaker, as well as Likert scale and open-ended questions about the importance of pronunciation and structure in the acquisition of a second language. The data were analyzed through univariate and multivariate analyses of variance and content analyses. The results revealed quantitative and qualitative differences between the Native Speakers and the Non-Native Speakers in their attitudes to and perceptions of non-native accents of English. The Non-Native Speakers showed a significantly more positive attitude to the non-native accents of English, as well as a high awareness of the difficulties involved in acquiring a non-native accent. The effect of Gender was slightly significant, as the Female subjects revealed a more positive attitude to four of the eight non-native x gender accents. There were also interesting Nationality and Gender related differences regarding the most liked and the least liked individual accents. The findings are interpreted in view of the familiarity principle in light of language typology, second language learning experience, gender and ethnic empathy. Factors of socio-political nature were associated with negative familiarity, mainly observed on the Latino and Arab Male accents.

To what extent do our accents determine the way we are perceived by others? Is a foreign accent inevitably associated with social stigma? Accent is a matter of great public interest given the impact of migration on national and global affairs, but until now, applied linguistics research has treated accent largely as a theoretical puzzle. In this fascinating account, Alene Moyer examines the social, psychological, educational and legal ramifications of sounding 'foreign'. She explores how accent operates contextually through analysis of issues such as: the neuro-cognitive constraints on phonological acquisition, individual factors that contribute to the 'intractability' of accent, foreign accent as a criterion for workplace discrimination, and the efficacy of instruction for improving pronunciation. This holistic treatment of second language accent is an essential resource for graduate students and researchers interested in applied linguistics, bilingualism and foreign language education.

Here's How to Do Accent Modification: A Manual for Speech-Language Pathologists is designed for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with clients on accent modification in American English. A growing number of non-native speakers are interested in improving their communication skills and SLPs need preparation to work with this clientele. The text provides copious advice and many diverse techniques for teaching accent modification, from the level of basic sounds to the level of discourse. The text emphasizes realistic goal setting, so that clients focus on becoming effective communicators as opposed to sounding exactly like native speakers. The objective is a balance between clear and natural speech. Many SLPs favor intelligibility over naturalness because of their backgrounds working with speech delayed children, but with non-native speakers this often leads to unnatural speech and listeners focus on how something is said as opposed to what is said. Here's How to Do Accent Modification is uniquely geared toward the skills and backgrounds of SLPs working with clients in a one-on-one setting, but is also an excellent introductory text for any English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. Robert McKinney brings this unique perspective as a speech-language pathologist with degrees in both Communication Disorders and Teaching English as a Second Language. Also included with the text are numerous practical activities and worksheets for working with clients. The ebook includes audio files and video clips to demonstrate working with non-native speakers.

The intrinsic relationship between language and society has a great influence on how native English speakers evaluate the non-native ones. Such evaluation may lead to language discrimination, prejudice or other types of exclusion (BAGNO, 2007; CAMACHO, 2001; CALVET, 2002; GNERRE, 1985). In light of this perspective, this bibliographic study aims at investigating which non-native speaker tends to be more downgraded in the United States. For such purposes, a literature review was carried out and 11 studies, on the topic mentioned above, were selected. Taking that into consideration, data were contrasted by the Meta-analysis approach. The results show that the majority of the studies point to a negative attitude towards non-native speakers (more specifically regarding accent). Additionally, Black and Hispanic people have been more downgraded on account of social factors whereas Asians due to linguistic issues.

Given the increasing use of English worldwide and in intercultural communication, there is a growing interest in attitudes towards non-native speaker accents in English. Research on attitudes towards non-native English accents is therefore important because of concerns about positive and negative discrimination between people who speak with different accents. This book reveals exactly what types of accent variations trigger positive and negative attitudes towards the speaker.<BR> The author argues that certain types of variation in the pronunciation of English can have a significant effect on how listeners identify an accent and explores how this variation affects the development of certain attitudes towards the speaker. Specific sounds that are difficult for many learners to acquire (e.g. the initial sounds in 'this' or 'June') are examined in terms of attitudes towards speakers' pronunciation, including an original comparison of two different kinds of non-native accents (German and Greek). The results of the study provide a basis for further research in second language acquisition and applied linguistics as well as practical information for language instructors at all levels of English education.

This course includes an overview of current theory and practice. The paperback edition offers current and prospective teachers of English a comprehensive treatment of pronunciation pedagogy, drawing on current theory and practice. The text provides an overview of teaching issues from the perspective of different methodologies and second language acquisition research. It has a thorough grounding in the sound system of North American English, and contains insights into how this sound system intersects with listening, morphology, and spelling. It also contains diagnostic tools, assessment measures, and suggestions for syllabus design. Discussion questions encourage readers to draw on their personal language learning/teaching experiences as they assimilate the contents of each chapter. Follow-up exercises guide teachers in developing a range of classroom activities within a communicative framework.

The phenomenon of foreign accents and their perception have received considerable attention from pronunciation specialists and academic researchers working within different fields of study, such as phonetics, phonology, foreign language teaching, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, social psychology, anthropology, and even law. The reason for this widespread interdisciplinary interest is caused by the fact that, in addition to revealing the speaker’s origin, accent carries significant social connotations and evokes various ethnic, racial, religious and socio-economic stereotypes. This book represents the largest, up-to-date qualitative and quantitative investigation into the accentedness, acceptability, intelligibility and comprehensibility of Polish English of three groups of native speakers, the English, the Irish and the Scottish, comparing the ways in which it is perceived by members of three nations and establishing pronunciation priorities. The book will be of interest not only to phoneticians, pronunciation specialists and sociolinguists, but also to EFL teachers and students.

There is a consistent stigma associated with nonstandard U.S. English accents, and language attitude studies have documented that both standard and nonstandard dialect speakers rate speakers of nonstandard accents lower than standard-accented speakers on a variety of personality characteristics. Whether nonnative speakers of English share these negative assessments of nonstandard accents is not clear. The present study investigates the attitudes of native as well as nonnative speakers of English toward various regional and social U.S. English accents and if length of stay in the U.S. has an effect on nonnative speakers' adopting language stereotypes similar to native speakers. Finally, the study seeks to determine if the subjects can correctly identify the accents and if identification has an effect on ratings for nonnative speakers. Three U.S. English accents, Midwestern, Southern, and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) were evaluated using a 7-point Likert scale by three groups of raters. The groups were native speakers of English, nonnative speakers of English present in the U.S. for six months or less, and nonnative speakers of English present in the U.S. between two and six years. After rating the speakers, the raters attempted to identify the accents of the speakers. The results showed that all three groups of raters evaluated the Midwestern-accented speech highest on all pairs of characteristics. Both groups of nonnative speakers had similar ratings to native speakers for Midwestern speech, only nonnative speakers in the U.S. for two or more years had similar ratings to native speakers for the Southern speech. Both groups of nonnative speakers rated AAVE-accented speech lower than native speakers. Nonnative speakers were less successful in identifying Midwestern and Southern-accented English, but were more successful in identifying AAVE-accented English. Skill at identification had little correlation to attitudes expressed by nonnative speakers. The results indicate that time spent in the U.S. is not a factor in adopting the notion of a prestige variety for nonnative speakers. The results also indicate that nonnative speakers become more sensitive to regional accents with extended time in the U.S., but that time is not a factor in nonnative speakers' developing bias toward social accents.