Perceived foreign accent as a predicator of face-voice match
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Kathryn Campbell-Kibler
Abstract
This study examines perceived accentedness as a predictor of perceived match between faces and voices. 85 pictures were rated for the likely education, masculinity and accentedness of the person depicted. Independently, 300 recordings of disyllabic English words from native speakers of English, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin and Spanish were rated for degree of perceived foreign accent. The highest and lowest rated tokens from each of three male speakers from each language background (30 total tokens) were selected, as were 15 pictures, maximizing the variability in perceived accentedness while avoiding extremes of education or masculinity. All pairwise combinations of these 15 faces and 30 voices were rated for perceived match. The results show that listeners have clear and structured perceptions of “fit” between faces and voices which are based in part, but not entirely, on the congruence of key social attributes such as perceived accentedness and local understandings of ethnolinguistic groupings.
Abstract
This study examines perceived accentedness as a predictor of perceived match between faces and voices. 85 pictures were rated for the likely education, masculinity and accentedness of the person depicted. Independently, 300 recordings of disyllabic English words from native speakers of English, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin and Spanish were rated for degree of perceived foreign accent. The highest and lowest rated tokens from each of three male speakers from each language background (30 total tokens) were selected, as were 15 pictures, maximizing the variability in perceived accentedness while avoiding extremes of education or masculinity. All pairwise combinations of these 15 faces and 30 voices were rated for perceived match. The results show that listeners have clear and structured perceptions of “fit” between faces and voices which are based in part, but not entirely, on the congruence of key social attributes such as perceived accentedness and local understandings of ethnolinguistic groupings.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Part 1: Theoretical Backgrounds
- Does language regard vary? 3
- REACT – A constructivist theoretic framework for attitudes 37
- Mixing methods in the study of language attitudes 55
-
Part 2: Implicit and/or explicit? When are attitudes “authentic”?
- The primary relevance of subconsciously offered attitudes 87
- Applying the Implicit Association Test to language attitudes research 117
- Implicit attitudes and the perception of sociolinguistic variation 137
-
Part 3: What factors awaken attitudes?
- Got class? Community-shared conceptualizations of social class in evaluative reactions to sociolinguistic variables 159
- Perceived foreign accent as a predicator of face-voice match 175
- Is Moroccan-flavoured Standard Dutch standard or not? On the use of perceptual criteria to determine the limits of standard languages 191
- Attitudes and language detail 219
- Topic Index 243
- Name Index 247
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Part 1: Theoretical Backgrounds
- Does language regard vary? 3
- REACT – A constructivist theoretic framework for attitudes 37
- Mixing methods in the study of language attitudes 55
-
Part 2: Implicit and/or explicit? When are attitudes “authentic”?
- The primary relevance of subconsciously offered attitudes 87
- Applying the Implicit Association Test to language attitudes research 117
- Implicit attitudes and the perception of sociolinguistic variation 137
-
Part 3: What factors awaken attitudes?
- Got class? Community-shared conceptualizations of social class in evaluative reactions to sociolinguistic variables 159
- Perceived foreign accent as a predicator of face-voice match 175
- Is Moroccan-flavoured Standard Dutch standard or not? On the use of perceptual criteria to determine the limits of standard languages 191
- Attitudes and language detail 219
- Topic Index 243
- Name Index 247
