Methods for the study of accent bias and access to elite professions

Sharma, Devyani; Levon, Erez; Watt, Dominic; Yang, Ye; Cardoso, Amanda

doi:10.1558/jld.39979

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Especially gatekeeping contexts such as job interviews, in which accent bias could potentially pose a serious threat to ethnic minority members' chances at success, merit further attention in the Dutch-speaking language area (cf. Hosoda and Stone-Romero (2010), Sharma et al (2019) and Schmaus and Kristen (2021) for experimental studies on accent bias in job recruitment contexts in the US, the UK and Germany respectively).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining accent bias towards Turkish speakers of Dutch

Van Puyvelde,

Van Hoof,

Lybaert

et al. 2023

DuJAL

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This contribution investigates the attitudes of Flemish first language speakers towards Turkish-Flemish speakers of Dutch as a second language. We conducted a 2 x 2 x 2 speaker evaluation experiment measuring the effects of accent (native vs. Turkish), language variety (standard vs. colloquial) and name (Flemish vs. Turkish) on attitudes vis-à-vis male speakers of Belgian Dutch. Our findings provide no consistent evidence of a negative bias vis-à-vis Turkish names in Flanders. While this result could be attributed to a social desirability bias, consistent downgrading of the Turkish accent on Superiority provides an indication of the existence of an accent bias that penalises ethnic minority accents in competence-related judgements.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining accent bias towards Turkish speakers of Dutch

Van Puyvelde,

Van Hoof,

Lybaert

et al. 2023

DuJAL

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“…An outcome of the ideology of equality in the Nordic region, in this discussion Finland in particular, is that it is not a class-based society (see e.g., Erola, 2010). With regard to spoken English, particularly in Great Britain, it is well-established that accent is a strong indicator of social class (see Hughes et al, 2012;Sharma et al, 2019). Here, the term accent refers specifically to pronunciation and prosodic features.…”

Section: Social Class and Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Views on “Good English” and “Nordic Exceptionalism” in Finland

Peterson

2022

Front. Commun.

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In the Nordic countries, widespread proficiency in English is positioned as a positive and even critical component of overall global competitiveness and competence. Indeed, maps illustrating who speaks the “best” English in Europe show a swath across the Nordic countries, and the number of people in the Nordic countries claiming proficiency in English is only a few percentage points below those in places such as the UK and Ireland. At the same time, the Nordic countries are routinely listed as the “happiest,” the most egalitarian, the most classless, least corrupt, and an epicenter for so-called “tender values.” In recent years, there has been a spate of publications highlighting how Nordic exceptionalism carries with it some unfortunate downsides, including the possibility for people to ignore or fail to acknowledge issues such as racism, sexism, and other social inequalities because of the affordance: “But our society is equal.” There is a parallel in the use of English. The entrenched notion that “everyone is good at English” overlooks that certain segments of the population—such as the elderly, immigrants and rural inhabitants—do not have the same level of access to the symbolic capital represented through facility in English. In this sense, the use of English presents social/class-based barriers that the national languages do not. This article offers a critique of the social realities relating to the use of English in the Nordic Countries within the context of the social welfare system and “Nordic exceptionalism,” focusing mostly on Finland. Making use of examples of discourse in newspapers, previous research and language policy documents, the chapter highlights how aspects of the use of English in Finland parallel other potentially hyped yet unequitable social issues.

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“…Collen, 2020), and standard language ideologies lead to bias against ‘non‐standard’ British English speakers in the workplace (e.g. Sharma et al., 2019). At the same time, the reality is that all forms of multilingualism are not (and have never been) perceived as equal.…”

Section: Language Ideologies Family Language Policy and Multilingual ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The language ideologies of multilingual nannies in London

Vessey

Nicolai

2022

Journal of Sociolinguistics

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In the globalized economy, multilingualism is increasingly perceived as a way of maximizing competitiveness, even in the family home. In the United Kingdom, multilingualism has become an asset for nannies, granting privileged access to a niche job market. Adopting the theoretical lens of language ideology, we identify sites and forms of language evaluation within the nannies’ discursive construction of their language work. Using thematic analysis of interview and focus group data with nannies, we examine how nannies represent their English and L1 language practices, verbalizations, and embodiments. Findings suggest that, rather than language practices, it is the verbalization of the symbolic value of multilingualism (normally through the medium of English) that grants nannies an advantageous position in the market. This market is made possible by upper‐middle‐class families, whose privileging of specific languages and speakers perpetuates eliteness, gendered language work, and problematic approaches to second language learning.

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Methods for the study of accent bias and access to elite professions

Abstract: .

Cited by 7 publications

References 35 publications

Examining accent bias towards Turkish speakers of Dutch

Examining accent bias towards Turkish speakers of Dutch

Views on “Good English” and “Nordic Exceptionalism” in Finland

The language ideologies of multilingual nannies in London

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