Perceptions of Minoritized Language Varieties in Music and Conversation

AJ Wildhaber
Dr. Darrin Hetrick, Faculty Mentor

Despite negative stereotypes and language-related discrimination, minoritized language varieties, such as African American English and Latino-accented English, frequently appear in various forms of media. Additionally, their speakers have achieved great success in the entertainment industry. To see if these varieties are considered more acceptable in the entertainment industry or in everyday life, participants listened to audio clips of African American English and Latino-accented English in musical and conversational settings. Then, they completed a survey about their perceptions of the speakers’ personal characteristics. Their responses were analyzed via 2-way ANOVA. If participants associate more positive characteristics with these varieties when they appear in music, this would indicate that the varieties are more acceptable in entertainment than in everyday life. Additionally, differences in perceptions between language varieties could help characterize current attitudes towards these language varieties.

Keywords: linguistics, sociolinguistics, accent attitudes, acceptability

Topic(s):Linguistics

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA