Words Apart: A Study of Attitudes Toward Varieties of South African English Accents in a United States Employment Scenario. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Goatley-Soan, Sean; Baldwin, John R.
• Is Part Of: Journal of language and social psychology. Volume 37:Number 6(2018)
• Page Start: 692
• Page End: 705
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: accents -- employment -- language attitudes -- prejudice -- South African English (SAfE) -- stereotypes; Sociolinguistics -- Periodicals; Psycholinguistics -- Periodicals; 401.905
• DOI: 10.1177/0261927X18800129
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-927X

Abstract

This study investigates Americans' attitudes toward the four major accents of South African English (SAfE) and several of their subvarieties in a hypothetical U.S. employment scenario. Participants perceived that SAfE accents possess positive language personality traits in comparison with standard American English; however, respondents identify SAfE speakers as foreign and perceive specific SAfE-accented varieties to be superior and more dynamic (e.g., General/Cultivated White SAfE and Indian SAfE) in relation to other SAfE-accented speakers (e.g., Mesolect Black SAfE and Cape Flats SAfE), even when they do not correctly identify the speaker's country of origin.