Arabic Accent Perception and Prejudice in the Usa
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ARABIC ACCENT PERCEPTION AND PREJUDICE IN THE USA A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics By Greg J. Niedt, B.A. Washington, D.C. April 26, 2011 Copyright 2011 by Greg J. Niedt All Rights Reserved ii ARABIC ACCENT PERCEPTION AND PREJUDICE IN THE USA Greg J. Niedt, B.A. Thesis Advisor: Robert J. Podesva, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This paper reports the results of a study investigating the extent to which native speakers of American English associate specific personal qualities to native speakers of Arabic based solely on auditory information. 234 participants, recruited through online social networks, heard sound clips of Arabic-accented English and were asked to rate each speaker from 1 to 5 in categories such as ―assertive‖, ―intelligent‖, and ―religious‖. Responses were analyzed to determine which demographic factors, such as sex, race, and political/religious self-identification, were statistically significant. The results were found to be significant for some of the respondent groups, in certain qualities: the paper illustrates which are seen as particularly related to Arabic accent, as opposed to ―non-native‖. The survey results are combined with interviews with native Arabic speakers on their experiences as speakers of accented English in the USA. The paper attempts to construct a picture of the American language attitudes towards Arabic, highlight stereotypes and prejudices that are drawn out through linguistic interaction, and offer directions for further research beyond this initial study. iii The research and writing of this thesis would not have been possible without the continuous support of my family, friends, and colleagues. I dedicate the research and writing of this thesis to Bruce and Kathleen Niedt, Angela Carothers, Corinne Seals, Anna Marie Trester, and everyone else who participated in making this a reality. I also dedicate it to anyone that might be better served from the results presented herein. My sincerest thanks, Greg J. Niedt iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 The Arab and Arabic-speaking community in the USA ..................................................................... 6 The Study: Qualitative Methodology .................................................................................................. 10 Qualitative Data ..................................................................................................................................... 11 The Study: Quantitative Methodology ............................................................................................... 17 Quantitative Data ................................................................................................................................... 21 Analysis ................................................................................................................................................... 22 Comparing accents for levels of significance .............................................................................. 22 Examining particular quality ratings across respondent groups ................................................ 24 Effects of different subcategories of sound clip .......................................................................... 29 Interpreting the data ........................................................................................................................ 32 Limitations and Solutions .................................................................................................................... 36 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ 39 Appendix A: Survey ............................................................................................................................. 42 Appendix B: Survey versions and order of sound clips .................................................................... 45 Appendix C: Respondent pool broken down by demographic category .......................................... 46 Appendix D: Demographic factors and factor groups in least-squares regression; graphs of non- statistically significant responses for Arabic accent by demographic group ............................ 47 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 52 v Introduction The question of foreign accent is one of great interest for the purpose of discussing how speakers of one language acclimate to another in terms of both the way those speakers produce the new language, and the way in which their accents are thereby perceived. Furthermore, from mastery of a language comes easier integration into a new society. Dennis R. Preston (2004) points out, ―Language attitudes are a significant part of how we assess one another. Understanding folk attitudes towards ways of speaking contributes to our knowledge of how speech can influence… critically important matters for maintaining equality in a democratic society‖ (480). What are the social and psychological effects of making judgments based on the sound of someone‘s voice? Does this kind of linguistic gatekeeping prevent speakers with particular variations in their language from getting jobs, finding houses, receiving services? In the context of mainstream American language ideology (one that emphasizes monolingual English use despite the diverse multiculturalism of the nation), native speakers are often positioned above immigrant or non-native speakers. Stereotypes arise from a priori ―knowledge‖ about various groups, and when a non-native speaker‘s identity is determined through symbols (which can include language), native speakers may place negative assumptions upon that person. With the marked increase of media reporting on the Middle East and the Arab world, and increased visibility of a Muslim minority in the United States, the Arabic-speaking community deserves some attention in this regard. Some of the most severe stereotypes— terrorist, extremist, misogynist—are reserved for members of this community. If language can be linked to a particular group in an American listener‘s mind, are they hearing Arabic-influenced features, and in turn evaluating speakers more negatively than they otherwise would? If so, how and why is this occurring? 1 There has been extensive research conducted on the processes by which particular features of a native language (or L1) become present in the speaker‘s newly-acquired language (or L2), and on the phonetic features that constitute this or that accent. However, this study is more concerned with the social perception of accented speakers by the natives of the language they are using. More recent studies (see for example: Major 2010; Rindal 2010; Derwing and Munro 2009; Ibrahim, Evatar, and Leikin 2008; Rahman 2008) have established the hardship of overcoming the patterns of one‘s original language and the social or psychological pressures this can create for speakers. Al-Issa (2003) discusses the ultimate impossibility—or at least, improbability—of distancing oneself from the social norms of the L1 when attempting to communicate in the L2. He defines the process of carrying over these norms as ―sociocultural transfer‖, and quotes Thomas (1984) in saying this transfer results in ―sociopragmatic failures… the mismatch which arises from cross-culturally different assessments within the social parameters affecting linguistic choice, etc.‖ Similarly, the ways in which people evaluate their own speech and that of others are ―culturally inherited‖ and ―consist of different values, preferred communication styles, expectations, and interpretations‖ (al-Issa 2003: 581). The L2 speaker must undertake a supreme effort to overcome the choices in his or her speech that a native speaker perceives as anomalous. It is one thing to discuss whether a native speaker of that L2 senses these anomalies phonologically, syntactically, or even idiomatically; but it is quite another to discuss what effect that perception will have on L1 listeners with whom the speaker is interacting. In a multicultural society with an unprecedented level of media involvement in everyday life such as we see in the United States, we are constantly subject to the opinions of others as they match up with backgrounds, ethnicities, and perhaps even languages. A great deal of linguistic research 2 (beginning with Labov 1972; see also for example Ochs and Capps 1996; Eckert and Rickford 2001) has been done on how [ethnic] identity is co-constructed in interaction, in a delicate ballet between participants that relies on communicative cues to constantly re-evaluate self and others. A linguist must concede, though, that the average person may not mediate their evaluative process with this level of metalinguistic awareness, and holds set perceptions about identity in general, particularly ethnicity. Rampton (1995) states that in a given interaction, ethnicity is almost always marked as either neutral (as an in-group feature, where it is a non-issue) or negative (as an intergroup feature, since the difference in speech style is salient). Two complications of this concept are that even within ethnicities, there