Accent Bias and Perceptions of Professional Competence in England

Levon, Erez; Sharma, Devyani; Watt, Dominic J. L.; Cardoso, Amanda; Ye, Yang (2021). Accent Bias and Perceptions of Professional Competence in England. Journal of English Linguistics, 49(4), pp. 355-388. Sage Publications 10.1177/00754242211046316

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Unequal outcomes in professional hiring for individuals from less privileged backgrounds have been widely reported in England. Although accent is one of the most salient signals of such a background, its role in unequal professional outcomes remains underexamined. This paper reports on a large-scale study of contemporary attitudes to accents in England. A large representative sample (N = 848) of the population in England judged the interview performance and perceived hirability of “candidates” for a trainee solicitor position at a corporate law firm. Candidates were native speakers of one of five English accents stratified by region, ethnicity, and class. The results suggest persistent patterns of bias against certain accents in England, particularly Southern working-class varieties, though moderated by factors such as listener age, content of speech, and listeners’ psychological predispositions. We discuss the role that the observed bias may play in perpetuating social inequality in England and encourage further research on the relationship between accent and social mobility.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Other Institutions > Walter Benjamin Kolleg (WBKolleg) > Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS)

UniBE Contributor:

Levon, Erez

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services
400 Language
400 Language > 410 Linguistics
400 Language > 420 English & Old English languages

ISSN:

0075-4242

Publisher:

Sage Publications

Language:

English

Submitter:

Erez Levon

Date Deposited:

14 Oct 2021 14:55

Last Modified:

04 Dec 2023 15:06

Publisher DOI:

10.1177/00754242211046316

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Accents, bias, language attitudes, England, social mobility, sociolinguistics

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/159633

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/159633

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