The ethical responsibility for effective communication between non-native speakers and native speakers lies not only with the former as speakers, but also with the latter as active, responsive, and unprejudiced listeners1.”
For communication to be successful, interlocutors must work together to co-construct understanding. However, despite this reciprocity, communicative breakdowns are usually attributed to the speaker, especially if the speaker has a non-native accent. Due to the effects of bias and stereotyping, what is often overlooked is the vital role of the listener, particularly in linguistically diverse academic contexts.
In this TfCS workshop, we share research-based insights that demonstrate how challenging underlying biases about non-native accents can enhance comprehension, encourage empathy, foster meaningful intercultural communication, and ultimately build a more ethical and inclusive academic community. We explore several central questions:
- What does it mean to have an accent? What is the relationship between accent, intelligibility, and comprehensibility?
- What are some of the common biases that listeners may bring to interactions?
- What problems might arise as a result of these biases, particularly in academic settings?
- What are effective, research-based solutions that can be implemented to address these problems in academic settings?
Past events
- October 21, 2021 at The New School (co-sponsored by The Faculty Center for Innovation, Collaboration and Support at The New School)
- November 13, 2020 at Baruch College New Faculty Orientation Sessions
- October 22, 2019 at The New School
- November 13, 2018 at Baruch College
- October 24, 2018 at Baruch College
- March 22, 2018 at Baruch College Ethics Week
1Derwing, T. M., Frazer, H., Kang, O., & Thomson, R. (2017). Accent and ethics: Issues that merit attention. In A. Mahboob & L. Barratt (Eds.), Englishes in multilingual contexts: Language variation and education. New York: Springer