Perceptual dialectology and the study accent bias

June 4, 2025

Sandrine ZUFFEREY

Prof. Sandrine Zufferey, Université de Berne

Dr. Jérôme Jacquin, Université de Lausanne

Prof. Chris Montgomery, University of Sheffield, UK

Prof. Alice Foucart, Nebrija Universidad, Spain

Prof. Erez Levon, Université de Berne, Suisse

The field of perceptual dialectology is linked to the notion of folk linguistics (Niedzielski & Preston1996) in other words the analysis of lay persons' perceptions and ideologies about language. One aspect of language use about which speakers develop very specific representations is other speakers' accents. Two types of speakers are perceived as having an accent in folk representations: non-native speakers and native speakers speaking a non-standard variety. In both cases, these speakers are often victims of discrimination: they are judged to be less competent, less trustworthy and less likable than speakers with a standard accent (e.g., Rakić et al. 2011; Tsurutani 2012; Fuse et al. 2018). Negative consequences have been reported in both professional and personal situations: in the US, vendors speaking with a non-native English accent were found to sell less than vendors with a native accent (Tsalikis, DeShields & LaTour 1991). In the UK, men speaking with a non-standard accent from Birmingham who were accused of a crime were judged to be more likely guilty than men speaking with a standard English accent (Dixon et al. 2002). 

Accent bias therefore represents a crucial topic to investigate in order to address social inequalities. However, from a methodological perspective, testing lay people's attitudes towards accents involves many challenges linked to the necessity to avoid confounding variables related to voice quality and experimental contexts, and also due to the risk of eliciting socially desirable answers. In order to overcome these issues, new methodologies assessing implicit beliefs and attitudes have recently been developed using designs from psycholinguistic experiments (e.g., Kircher & Zipp 2021). 

This one-day CUSO training will focus on presenting these new techniques and methodologies, and illustrating the ways in which they can be applied to different contexts. Prof. Chris Montgomery, from the University of Sheffield, will first present new methods and challenges in perceptual dialectology. Prof. Alice Foucart from the University of Madrid will then discuss how psycholinguistic experiments can be used to assess accent bias toward non-native speakers. Lastly, Prof. Erez Levon, from the University of Bern, will present results of a large-scale study conducted in the UK to analyze accent bias in the professional context. PhD students working on related topics will be invited to present their research.

9h00 - 17h00

Universität Bern

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