University of Toledo Students' Reaction to African American Vernacular Features: Do Phonological Features Matter?

This thesis study was a replication of Rodriguez et al. (2004) research that explored listeners' perceptions of the attractiveness of speakers with varying degrees of AAVE phonological features. Six females were selected who exhibit varying degrees of AAVE (two “strong” AAVE speakers, two “moderate” AAVE speakers, and two SAE speakers). All speakers recorded a brief definition of achievement motivation. Subsequently, one-hundred and two participants rated the six speakers based on their perceptions of status (intelligence, wealth, class, and education) and attractiveness (kindness, sweetness, likability, and friendliness). Results indicated that speakers who exhibit SAE were more favorably evaluated than speakers who exhibit AAVE. These findings demonstrated that speakers' accents affected listeners' judgments about them.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English (as a Second Language)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Toledo

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Calhoun, Mackenzie Shanae

Contributors dc:contributor

• Reichelt, Dr. Melinda

• African Americans
• Language
• AAVE
• language attitudes
• perceptions

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1321370549

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:toledo1321370549