CONSIDER THE DILEMMA

Raised in the rural South, Mike never thought much about how he spoke, but enrolling at a university in the Midwest changed all that. Soon after moving to campus, Mike’s roommates started teasing him about his southern accent, calling him “hick” and “redneck.” Although Mike laughed it off, he became increasingly self-conscious about his accent. Afraid of being stereotyped, he rarely spoke up in class, and he dreaded having to give presentations. But Mike’s biggest concern was that he wanted to be a lawyer, and attorneys do a lot of public speaking.

As you’re leaving your political science class one day, Dr. Brenner calls you over to a conversation he’s having with Mike about joining the college’s mock trial team—a competitive activity in which students simulate trial lawyers by delivering opening statements, questioning witnesses, and presenting closing statements. Dr. Brenner introduces you as a team member who has grown immensely by participating in mock trial competitions. Nodding in agreement, you tell Mike, “It’s great preparation for law school. You learn how to think under pressure and present a court case in front of others. You get a lot of constructive criticism, too.”

“That’s not something I could do,” Mike says. “I don’t like talking in front of people around here.” When Dr. Brenner asks why, Mike replies, “People think I’m stupid ’cause of the way I talk.” Upon Dr. Brenner’s suggestion that Mike enroll in a voice and diction class if he is concerned about his accent, Mike responds, “I don’t think it’s right to change who I am. It’d be like disrespecting my family. I’ll probably just wind up going to law school back home and practicing law there. I gotta run. See you next week.”

After Mike leaves the classroom, Dr. Brenner turns to you and says, “Will you talk to him again to see if he’ll reconsider?”

CONNECT THE RESEARCH

Accents are a common basis for stereotypes. U.S. citizens consistently rate the South as a place where accented speech portrays residents as backward or uneducated (Preston, 1999; Preston, 2002). Even when a southern accent is perceived as friendly or polite, listeners may still question the speaker’s competence or ability. Such judgments aren’t reserved solely for southerners, however; many non-native English speakers are also stereotyped as unintelligent if they have heavily accented speech (Burlage, Marafka, Parsons, & Milaski, 2004).

Although such judgments are clearly wrong, they persist because accents signal cultural difference. In fact, accents may be more important than appearance in marking others as cultural outgroupers (Rakić, Steffens, & Mummendey, 2011). This is an important distinction because people feel less certain about and uncomfortable around those whom they judge as culturally dissimilar.

However, unfavorable judgments about accents don’t always stem from stereotypes. Heavy accents can make it difficult to understand messages, leading listeners to question the speaker’s credibility (Lev-Ari & Keysar, 2010). When an accent becomes a hindrance to being understood by others, pursuing a class or training to reduce these effects might be appropriate.

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COMMUNICATE

Before making a communication choice, consider the facts of the situation, and think about the research on accented speech. Also, reflect on what you’ve learned so far about conveying immediacy (pp. 384–387) and projecting a powerful speech style (pp. 387–391). Then answer these questions:

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