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Accents and stereotypes: Their effects on perceptions of teachers and lecture comprehension
Abstract
Research examining the effects of foreign accents on perceptions made of accent users suggests that more favorable ratings are assigned to standard accent users. While the effect of accented on outcomes such as job selection have been examined, little consideration has been given to the effect accented teachers may have on standard English using student's comprehension. This study is designed to (1) extend the existing research on perceptions of accentedness by arguing that a topology of accents ranging from similar to dissimilar will yield different perceptions of accented teachers, (2) address the relationship between stereotypes and perceptions that are made of accented teachers, and (3) examine comprehension as an outcome measure. Four hypotheses were specifically tested: (1) as accents of the teacher become more dissimilar from students' accents, perceptions of teachers will be less favorable; (2) as accents of the teacher become more dissimilar from students' accents, comprehension will be adversely affected, (3) the presence of stereotypes will affect perceptions of teachers, and (4) the presence of stereotypes will affect lecture comprehension. Ninety subjects were randomly assigned to one of the three accent conditions and one of the lecture conditions. Measurements included a stereotyping index, the Speech Dialect Attitudinal Scale, accentedness and lecture understandability scales, and comprehension measures. Results indicate that students assign more favorable ratings to standard accents. While this study argued for observable differences among American (no accent), British (similar accent) and Malaysian (dissimilar accent) teachers, differences generally emerged along the accented versus non-accented dichotomy. Similarly, comprehension was affected according to accentedness. Subjects recalled more information from the American teacher than from the British or Malaysian teacher. Stereotyping had no measurable effect on perceptions made of the teachers but did impact on comprehension. Subjects who made stereotypical assessments of the teachers did not systematically make less favorable perceptions of the teachers or comprehend less information from the teachers. In fact, those who stereotyped tended to recall more information.
Subject Area
Communication|Language|Curricula|Teaching
Recommended Citation
Gill, Mary M, "Accents and stereotypes: Their effects on perceptions of teachers and lecture comprehension" (1991). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9129550.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9129550