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Effect of accent and dialect on employability
Author(s) -
Carlson Holly K.,
McHenry Monica A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of employment counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.252
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 2161-1920
pISSN - 0022-0787
DOI - 10.1002/j.2161-1920.2006.tb00008.x
Subject(s) - stress (linguistics) , employability , psychology , ethnic group , affect (linguistics) , linguistics , vernacular , pitch accent , prosody , sociology , pedagogy , communication , philosophy , anthropology
This study was designed to determine how ethnicity, the amount of perceived accent or dialect, and comprehensibility affect a speaker's employability. Sixty human resource specialists judged 3 female potential applicants. The applicants represented speakers of Spanish‐influenced English, Asian‐influenced English, and African American Vernacular English. When the speaker's perceived accent or dialect was minimal, perceived ethnicity did not affect employability. However, all speakers with maximally perceived accents or dialects were given a lower employability rating. Thus, speakers with a maximally perceived accent or dialect should consider accent or dialectal modification if their comprehensibility or prospective employability is compromised.