Beyond Accentism: Affirming Accent Diversity

• In Event: Unmasking International Social Injustices in Education: Incursions, Interruptions, and Interventions

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
What does it mean to speak with an accent? And what are the implications of accentism for the learning of linguistically and culturally diverse groups? This study examines these questions by demonstrating the manner in which the linguistic encounter between European languages and indigenous languages has led, for example, to the emergence of a variety of accented Englishes, Frenches, or Portugueses (Phillipson, 1992; Thiong’o, 1986; Green, 2012).

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
Although many scholars have written about language issues (Macedo et al., 2003), accentism has not been deeply interrogated nor explored. Drawing on sociocultural and postcolonial theories and narratives collected from participants over the course of two semesters, this study explores accentism. By accentism, it is meant accent-based discrimination connected to one’s non-standard accent alongside one’s native tongue, cultural and social class backgrounds, nationality, and country of origin (Green, 2012). Accent-based discrimination has affected many people, particularly bilingual and multilingual students speaking English or any dominant language with a distinct accent (Macedo et al., 2003; Nieto & Bode, 2011).

Methods and Data
For this study, I used a mixed method to collect data, starting in spring 2013 and will end early fall 2013. I have invited students, both undergraduate and graduate, to participate in this study. In addition, I have invited members from the community where I have been living for the last five years to be involved in the study. Participants involved in this study are from different social class, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. To gain insights from participants about their experience with accents, I designed a questionnaire containing open-ended questions about accent-based discrimination. In addition to questionnaires, I used individual and focus group interviews to collect data for this study. The interviews are face- to-face. Some interviews lasted about 30 minutes, while others were about an hour long. All of the interviews were transcribed for data analysis. In addition to interviewing the participants, I encouraged them to write narratives about their experiences with accent-based discrimination. I collected from the participants as many narratives as possible. Their narratives provided details about the context and the manner in which they have been discriminated against because of their accents and the way this form of discrimination has affected both their personal and academic lives.

Results
Analysis of emerging themes from participants’ narratives suggests that their accents labeled as non-standard and “foreign” have been looked down upon. Preliminary findings also suggest that stigma is associated with non-standard way of speaking (Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000). Finally, findings indicate accentism might have affected their cultural life, learning, identity, and material conditions.

Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
These narratives provided details about the context and the manner in which participants have been discriminated against because of their accents and the way this form of discrimination has affected both their personal and academic lives.

Selected Bibliography
Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an Accent: Language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States. New York, NY. Routledge.

Author

• Pierre W. Orelus, New Mexico State University