Evoked expectations and evaluational reactions to accented English
Researchers have found that variations in listeners' judgments of speakers are associated with the speakers' accent. It was hypothesized that: (1) Spanish accented speakers would be evaluated less favorably than standard English speakers; (2) listeners would rate both accented and non-accented speakers on the basis of their expectations and not according to the speakers' actual vocal characteristics; (3) listeners would evaluate speakers differently, depending upon the lexical complexity of the speech utilized by speakers; and (4) listeners would evaluate standard and nonstandard English speakers differently, depending upon the speakers' gender. One hundred-twenty subjects evaluated four speakers on semantic differential type scales. Results indicate that: (1) overall accented speakers were evaluated more favorably than non-accented speakers; (2) listeners did not evaluate the speakers according to their expectations; (3) speakers were rated lower when reading an informal passage than when reading a formal passage; and (4) male and female, accented and non-accented speakers were evaluated differently. Results, limitations, and implications are discussed.
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