Rethinking Questionnaire Design to Enhance Data Quality

Abstract

The verbal guise test (VGT) is considered a modified iteration of the classical matched guise test. Over the years, the VGT has found application in a spectrum of studies concerning language attitudes toward different accents and varieties. Despite its widespread use in language attitude research, the VGT is not without inherent challenges, such as the quality of audio clips and participant sampling techniques. These limitations have been acknowledged by researchers as commonplace, but thorough discussions and practical solutions to address these limitations have been relatively scarce, with Chan being a notable exception. This chapter endeavors to offer valuable recommendations to researchers who employ the VGT in their studies by examining recent research endeavors that have incorporated the verbal guise test and by providing a comprehensive overview of the test's historical evolution. The chapter aims to reintroduce this classical tool to contemporary language attitude researchers while engaging in a modern discourse about effective approaches to mitigate its limitations.