1887
Volume 8, Issue 3
  • ISSN 2215-1931
  • E-ISSN: 2215-194X
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This study examined listeners’ evaluations of first (L1) and second language (L2) English speech in work-related contexts. Ninety-six English-speaking listeners from Calgary rated audio recordings of 12 English speakers (6 L1 English, 6 L1 Tagalog) along three continua capturing one professional (competence), one experiential (treatment preference), and one linguistic (comprehensibility) dimension. The audio recordings additionally differed in terms of job prestige (high vs. low) and performance level (high vs. low). Compared to English speakers, Tagalog speakers were rated as less competent and comprehensible overall, and listeners wished to be treated more like the clients in scenarios recorded by English than Tagalog speakers, with all effects magnified for speakers with heavier foreign accents. Nonetheless, listeners generally evaluated English and Tagalog speakers similarly in low-prestige and in low-performance scenarios, but rated low performance less negatively in low-prestige positions. Findings demonstrate highly nuanced accent bias in work-related contexts.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jslp.22013.tel
2022-09-29
2025-02-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Almeida, S., Fernando, M., Hannif, Z., & Dharmage, S. C.
    (2015) Fitting the mould: The role of employer perceptions in immigrant recruitment decision-making. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(22), 2811–2832. 10.1080/09585192.2014.1003087
    https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.1003087 [Google Scholar]
  2. Baquiran, C. L. C., & Nicoladis, E.
    (2020) A doctor’s foreign accent affects perceptions of competence. Health Communication, 35(6), 726–730. 10.1080/10410236.2019.1584779
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1584779 [Google Scholar]
  3. Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S.
    (2015) Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1–48. 10.18637/jss.v067.i01
    https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01 [Google Scholar]
  4. Baum, C. F.
    (2008) Stata tip 63: Modeling proportions. Stata Journal, 8(2), 299–303. 10.1177/1536867X0800800212
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867X0800800212 [Google Scholar]
  5. Boersma, P., & Weenink, D.
    (2021) Praat: Doing phonetics by computer [Computer program]. Version 6.1.41, retrieved fromwww.praat.org/
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Brennan, E. M., & Brennan, J. S.
    (1981) Accent scaling and language attitudes: Reactions to Mexican American English speech. Language and Speech, 24(3), 207–221. 10.1177/002383098102400301
    https://doi.org/10.1177/002383098102400301 [Google Scholar]
  7. Cargile, A. C., & Giles, H.
    (1998) Language attitudes toward varieties of English: An American-Japanese context. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 26(3), 338–356. 10.1080/00909889809365511
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00909889809365511 [Google Scholar]
  8. Coloma, R. S., McElhinny, B., Tungohan, E., Catungal, J. P., & Davidson, L. M.
    (Eds.) (2012) Filipinos in Canada: Disturbing invisibility. Toronto, CA: Toronto Univeristy Press. 10.3138/9781442662728
    https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442662728 [Google Scholar]
  9. Crowther, D., Trofimovich, P., Isaacs, T., & Saito, K.
    (2018) Linguistic dimensions of L2 accentedness and comprehensibility vary across speaking tasks. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(2), 443–457. 10.1017/S027226311700016X
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S027226311700016X [Google Scholar]
  10. Darian, J. C., Tucci, L. A., & Wiman, A. R.
    (2001) Perceived salesperson service attributes and retail patronage intentions. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, 29(5), 205–213. 10.1108/09590550110390986
    https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550110390986 [Google Scholar]
  11. Dávila, A., Bohara, A. K., & Saenz, R.
    (1993) Accent penalties and the earnings of mexican Americans. Social Science Quarterly, 74(4), 902–916.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Dayag, D. T.
    (2007) Exploring the intelligibility of Philippine English. Asian Englishes, 10(1), 4–23. 10.1080/13488678.2007.10801197
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2007.10801197 [Google Scholar]
  13. de Castro, A. B., Gee, G. C., & Takeuchi, D. T.
    (2008) Workplace discrimination and health among Filipinos in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 98(3), 520–526. 10.2105/AJPH.2007.110163
    https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.110163 [Google Scholar]
  14. De La Zerda, N., & Hopper, R.
    (1979) Employment interviewers’ reactions to Mexican American speech. Communication Monographs, 46(2), 126–134. 10.1080/03637757909375998
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03637757909375998 [Google Scholar]
  15. Deprez-Sims, A.-S., & Morris, S. B.
    (2010) Accents in the workplace: Their effects during a job interview. International Journal of Psychology, 45(6), 417–426. 10.1080/00207594.2010.499950
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2010.499950 [Google Scholar]
  16. Derwing, T. M., & Munro, M. J.
    (2015) Pronunciation fundamentals: Evidence-based perspectives for L2 teaching and research. Amsterdam, NL: John Benjamins. 10.1075/lllt.42
    https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.42 [Google Scholar]
  17. Dragojevic, M., Gasiorek, J., & Giles, H.
    (2016) Communication accommodation theory. InC. R. Berger & M. E. Roloff (Eds.), The international incyclopedia of interpersonal communication (pp.1–20). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 10.1002/9781118540190.wbeic006
    https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118540190.wbeic006 [Google Scholar]
  18. Dragojevic, M., & Goatley-Soan, S.
    (2022) Americans’ attitudes toward foreign accents: Evaluative hierarchies and underlying processes. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 43(2), 167–181. 10.1080/01434632.2020.1735402
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1735402 [Google Scholar]
  19. Giles, H., & Watson, B. M.
    (Eds.) (2013) The social meanings of language, dialect, and accent: International perspectives on speech styles. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Go, S. P.
    (1998) Towards the 21st century: Whither Philippine labor migration. InB. V. Cariño (Ed.), Filipino workers on the move: Trends, dilemmas and policy options (pp.9–44). Philippine Migration Research Network.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Goyder, J., Guppy, N., & Thompson, M.
    (2003) The allocation of male and female occupational prestige in an Ontario urban area: A quarter-century replication. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue Canadienne de Sociologie, 40(4), 417–439. 10.1111/j.1755‑618X.2003.tb00255.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-618X.2003.tb00255.x [Google Scholar]
  22. Hamilton, D., Goldsmith, A. H., & Darity, W.
    (2008) Measuring the wage costs of limited English: Issues with using interviewer versus self-reports in determining Latino wages. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30(3), 257–279. 10.1177/0739986308320470
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986308320470 [Google Scholar]
  23. Hauser, R. M., & Warren, J. R.
    (1997) Socioeconomic indexes for occupations: A review, update, and critique. Sociological Methodology, 27(1), 177–298. 10.1111/1467‑9531.271028
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9531.271028 [Google Scholar]
  24. Hennig-Thurau, T.
    (2004) Customer orientation of service employees: Its impact on customer satisfaction, commitment, and retention. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 15(5), 460–478. 10.1108/09564230410564939
    https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230410564939 [Google Scholar]
  25. Hosoda, M., Stone-Romero, E. F., & Walter, J. N.
    (2007) Listeners’ cognitive and affective reactions to English speakers with standard American English and Asian accents. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 104(1), 307–326. 10.2466/pms.104.1.307‑326
    https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.104.1.307-326 [Google Scholar]
  26. Iheduru-Anderson, K.
    (2020) Accent bias: A barrier to Black African-born nurses seeking managerial and faculty positions in the United States. Nursing Inquiry, 27(4), 1–15. 10.1111/nin.12355
    https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12355 [Google Scholar]
  27. Kalin, R., & Rayko, D. S.
    (1978) Discrimination in evaluative judgments against foreign-accented job candidates. Psychological Reports, 43(3), 1203–1209. 10.2466/pr0.1978.43.3f.1203
    https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1978.43.3f.1203 [Google Scholar]
  28. Kalin, R., Rayko, D. S., & Love, N.
    (1980) The perception and evaluation of job candidates with four different ethnic accents. InH. Giles, W. P. Robinson, & P. M. Smith (Eds.), Language: Social psychological perspectives (pp.197–202). Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press. 10.1016/B978‑0‑08‑024696‑3.50034‑X
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-024696-3.50034-X [Google Scholar]
  29. Kennedy, S., & Trofimovich, P.
    (2008) Intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness of L2 speech: The role of listener experience and semantic context. Canadian Modern Language Review, 64(3), 459–490. 10.3138/cmlr.64.3.459
    https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.64.3.459 [Google Scholar]
  30. Lenth, R.
    (2020) emmeans: Estimated marginal means. R package version 1.7.5. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=emmeans
  31. Li, H. P., & Chen, H. C.
    (2019) Intelligibility and comprehensibility of the Filipino English accent to Hong Kong English speakers. The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 25(1), 23–42. 10.17576/3L‑2019‑2501‑02
    https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2019-2501-02 [Google Scholar]
  32. Lightman, N., Banerjee, R., Tungohan, E., de Leon, C., & Kelly, P.
    (2021) An intersectional pathway penalty: Filipina immigrant women inside and outside Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Program. International Migration, 1–20. 10.1111/IMIG.12851/v3/response1
    https://doi.org/10.1111/IMIG.12851/v3/response1 [Google Scholar]
  33. Lindemann, S.
    (2003) Koreans, Chinese or Indians? Attitudes and ideologies about non-native English speakers in the United States. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(3), 348–364. 10.1111/1467‑9481.00228
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00228 [Google Scholar]
  34. Lippi-Green, R.
    (2012) English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203348802
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203348802 [Google Scholar]
  35. Mai, R., & Hoffmann, S.
    (2014) Accents in business communication: An integrative model and propositions for future research. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(1), 137–158. 10.1016/j.jcps.2013.09.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2013.09.004 [Google Scholar]
  36. Moyer, A.
    (2013) Foreign accent: The phenomenon of non-native speech. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511794407
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511794407 [Google Scholar]
  37. Neiterman, E., & Bourgeault, I. L.
    (2015) The shield of professional status: Comparing internationally educated nurses’ and international medical graduates’ experiences of discrimination. Health (United Kingdom), 19(6), 615–634. 10.1177/1363459314567788
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459314567788 [Google Scholar]
  38. Nelson Jr., L. R., Signorella, M. L., & Botti, K. G.
    (2016) Accent, gender, and perceived competence. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 38(2), 166–185. 10.1177/0739986316632319
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986316632319 [Google Scholar]
  39. Pantos, A. J., & Perkins, A. W.
    (2013) Measuring implicit and explicit attitudes toward foreign accented speech. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 32(1), 3–20. 10.1177/0261927X12463005
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X12463005 [Google Scholar]
  40. Plonsky, L., & Oswald, F. L.
    (2014) How big is “big”? Interpreting effect sizes in L2 research. Language Learning, 64(4), 878–912. 10.1111/lang.12079
    https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12079 [Google Scholar]
  41. Ramjattan, V. A.
    (2019) Racializing the problem of and solution to foreign accent in business. Applied Linguistics Review, 1–18. 10.1515/applirev‑2019‑0058
    https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2019-0058 [Google Scholar]
  42. Reitz, J. G., & Sklar, S. M.
    (1997) Culture, race, and the economic assimilation of immigrants. Sociological Forum, 12(2), 233–277. 10.1023/A:1024649916361
    https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024649916361 [Google Scholar]
  43. R Core Team
    R Core Team (2020) R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Revelle, W.
    (2021) psych: Procedures for psychological, psychometric, and personality research. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. R package version 2.0.9, https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=psych
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Roberts, C.
    (2021) Linguistic penalties and the job interview. Bristol, UK: Equinox.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Ryan, E. B., & Sebastian, R. J.
    (1980) The effects of speech style and social class background on social judgements of speakers. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19(3), 229–233. 10.1111/j.2044‑8260.1980.tb00348.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8260.1980.tb00348.x [Google Scholar]
  47. Saito, K.
    (2021) What characterizes comprehensible and native-like pronunciation among English-as-a-second-language speakers? Meta-analyses of phonological, rater, and instructional factors. TESOL Quarterly, 55(3), 866–900. 10.1002/tesq.3027
    https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3027 [Google Scholar]
  48. Saito, K., & Shintani, N.
    (2016) Do native speakers of North American and Singapore English differentially perceive comprehensibility in second language speech?TESOL Quarterly, 50(2), 421–446. 10.1002/tesq.234
    https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.234 [Google Scholar]
  49. Segrest Purkiss, S. L., Perrewé, P. L., Gillespie, T. L., Mayes, B. T., & Ferris, G. R.
    (2006) Implicit sources of bias in employment interview judgments and decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 101(2), 152–167. 10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.06.005
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.06.005 [Google Scholar]
  50. Semyonov, M., & Gorodzeisky, A.
    (2004) Occupational destinations and economic mobility of Filipino overseas workers. International Migration Review, 38(1), 5–25. 10.1111/j.1747‑7379.2004.tb00186.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00186.x [Google Scholar]
  51. Statistics Canada
    Statistics Canada (2017) Calgary, CY [Census subdivision], Alberta and Canada [Country] (table). Census Profile. 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa. ReleasedNovember 29, 2017. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E (accessedMarch 7, 2022).
  52. Stewart, M. A., Ryan, E. B., & Giles, H.
    (1985) Accent and social class effects on status and solidarity evaluations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 11(1), 98–105. 10.1177/0146167285111009
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167285111009 [Google Scholar]
  53. Taylor Reid, K., Trofimovich, P., & O’Brien, M. G.
    (2019) Social attitudes and speech ratings: Effects of positive and negative bias on multiage listerners’ judgments of second language speech. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(2), 419–442. 10.1017/S0272263118000244
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263118000244 [Google Scholar]
  54. Timming, A. R.
    (2017) The effect of foreign accent on employability: A study of the aural dimensions of aesthetic labour in customer-facing and non-customer-facing jobs. Work, Employment and Society, 31(3), 409–428. 10.1177/0950017016630260
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017016630260 [Google Scholar]
  55. Walsh, G., Gouthier, M., Gremler, D. D., & Brach, S.
    (2012) What the eye does not see, the mind cannot reject: Can call center location explain differences in customer evaluations?International Business Review, 21(5), 957–967. 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2011.11.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2011.11.002 [Google Scholar]
  56. Zschirnt, E., & Ruedin, D.
    (2016) Ethnic discrimination in hiring decisions: A meta-analysis of correspondence tests 1990–2015. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 42(7), 1115–1134. 10.1080/1369183X.2015.1133279
    https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2015.1133279 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jslp.22013.tel
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/jslp.22013.tel
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error