Regional Accent Discrimination in Hiring Decisions: A Language Attitude Study Page: 20
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Method
The notion of a standard language ideology with regard to the pronunciation of words
spoken in English and the correlation between subjective reactions to speech and hiring
practices is the focus of this study. Through a pilot study, respondents revealed a
preference for speech that has the fewest regional, ethnic, and foreign-accented
characteristics, which appeared to have an effect on the respondents' acceptance of
certain speakers for particular types of employment.
Pilot Study
The pilot study for this project had results similar to Kalin and Rayko (1978).
Respondents listened to recordings of twelve speakers of English reading a passage about
baseball. The speakers, all male, were a mixture of native English speakers from various
regions in the US, one from London, England, and speakers of English as a second
language who spoke English with a foreign accent. Respondents rated the characteristics
of the subjects' speech, personality traits of each speaker, and determined for which
positions on a university campus each subject might be considered suitable.
Subjects with speech that was perceived as most "accent-free" were ranked more
positively on personality traits and were viewed as more suitable for high-prestige
"public" jobs than those whose speech was marked with regional or ethnic features as
well as those speakers who were perceived as sounding more rural. These preliminary
findings suggested that there might be an employment bias against certain regional and20
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Markley, E. Dianne. Regional Accent Discrimination in Hiring Decisions: A Language Attitude Study, thesis, August 2000; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2623/m1/27/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .