Reverse Linguistic Stereotyping:

Measuring the Effects of Listener Expectations on Speech Evaluation

LLED 577

February 24, 2020

Kyuyun Lim

1. Listen to two short excerpts from lectures relevant to teaching accents and pronunciation

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Okim Kang

An Associate Professor of

Applied Linguistics,

Northern Arizona University

L2 pronunciation, oral language proficiency assessment, speech production and perception, language attitudes, and World Englishes

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Donald L.Rubin

A professor emeritus in the Departments of Communication Studies and Language and Literacy Education & in the Program in Linguistics

University of Georgia.

Student learning outcomes accruing from education abroad, and evaluational reactions to nonnative speakers of English, including the impact of those responses on assessment processes.

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Linguistic Stereotyping

Linguistic stereotyping

“Speech varieties (dialects, minority languages) associated with low-prestige groups can cue negative attributions regarding individual speakers” (p.442)

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Reverse Linguistic Stereotyping (RLS)

Reverse linguistic stereotyping

“Attributions of a speakers’ group membership cue distorted perceptions of that speakers’ language style or proficiency” (p.442)

=> General judgement about social groups is extended to evaluation of individual speakers’ language proficiency

Linguistic stereotyping

“Speech varieties (dialects, minority languages) associated with low-prestige groups can cue negative attributions regarding individual speakers” (p.442)

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Reverse Linguistic Stereotyping (RLS)

Reverse linguistic stereotyping

“Attributions of a speakers’ group membership cue distorted perceptions of that speakers’ language style or proficiency” (p.442)

=> General judgement about social groups is extended to evaluation of individual speakers’ language proficiency

Linguistic stereotyping

“Speech varieties (dialects, minority languages) associated with low-prestige groups can cue negative attributions regarding individual speakers” (p.442)

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Reflection

• Have you had any experiences relating to linguistic stereotyping or reverse linguistic stereotyping? (for instance, have you been judged by your accents? Have your social group membership influenced the evaluation of your speech, employment interviews, or any other social activities?)

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Methods

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Do listeners’ propensity to RLS & backgrounds affect or predict rater’s judgements of NNS oral performance?

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Do listeners’ propensity to RLS & backgrounds affect or predict rater’s judgements of NNS oral performance?

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Do listeners’ propensity to RLS affect or predict rater’s judgements of NNS oral performance?

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1. Listeners’ propensity to RLS: Perceptions of speaker accent, comprehensibility, and evaluation of teaching quality are distorted by listeners’ engagement in RLS.
2. RLS affects our perceptions of NNS speakers, but not of NS speakers.

Do listeners’ backgrounds affect or predict rater’s judgements of NNS oral performance?

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Listener’s characteristics contributed to their comprehension and judgements.

• Experience with language-related courses had a positive influence on comprehension of NNS-identified speech.
• Teaching experience positively contributed to the rating of teaching quality.

Discussions: Four stations

(1) Implications for language teaching/teacher education

(2) Implications for language testing/speech evaluation

(3) Further discussions on the research methods or findings

(4) Actions to decrease RLS

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THANKS!

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