Perceiving Identity through Accent: Attitudes towards Non-Native Speakers and their Accents in English

by Bettina Beinhoff

Overview

Given the increasing use of English worldwide, attitudes towards non-native speaker accents in English is a growing research area. This author argues that certain types of variation in the pronunciation can have a significant effect on how listeners identify an accent and explores how this variation leads to certain attitudes towards the speaker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783034308199
Publisher:	Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Publication date:	04/09/2013
Series:	Contemporary Studies in Descriptive Linguistics , #35
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.91(w) x 8.86(h) x (d)

About the Author

Bettina Beinhoff is a lecturer in Applied Linguistics and English Language at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and an MPhil in English and Applied Linguistics from the University of Cambridge, where she also worked as a Teaching and Research Associate from 2010 to 2012.

Table of Contents

Contents: English in a changing world: Sociolinguistic and social psychological issues – The structure of non-native English accents: Definitions, norms and the myth of the «neutral» accent – Learnability in Second Language Acquisition – Solidarity and status: Attitudes towards non-native English accents – Perceived variation in pronunciation – Attitudes towards variation in specific consonants.

Editorial Reviews

«Beinhoff successfully builds upon an existing body of previous studies to lead language attitude and identity research into new territory, one which is likely to become increasingly important in an increasingly globalised world.»
(John Bellamy, Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik 1/2015)

From the Publisher