“Accents are just accents”: The role of contact and prolonged exposure in International teachers’ language attitudes.

This study aims to provide an insight into the effect an international teaching background can have on language users’ attitudes and prejudices. The motivation behind this study focuses on the contact hypothesis, which posits that under certain conditions of prolonged contact, favourable impressions of other speakers may develop based on shared experience. Given the lack of previous research into more international contact settings, this study aimed to provide a brief insight into how prolonged exposure to language variation might allow for the development of more positive language attitudes. Eleven teachers from the International School of the Hague volunteered to take part in this study which aimed to test the hypothesis that prolonged contact in an immersive international environment could make raters more tolerant of other speakers’ diverse accents in English. The data was derived from an anonymous survey and short fifteen- minute participant interviews. Though no solid...Show moreThis study aims to provide an insight into the effect an international teaching background can have on language users’ attitudes and prejudices. The motivation behind this study focuses on the contact hypothesis, which posits that under certain conditions of prolonged contact, favourable impressions of other speakers may develop based on shared experience. Given the lack of previous research into more international contact settings, this study aimed to provide a brief insight into how prolonged exposure to language variation might allow for the development of more positive language attitudes. Eleven teachers from the International School of the Hague volunteered to take part in this study which aimed to test the hypothesis that prolonged contact in an immersive international environment could make raters more tolerant of other speakers’ diverse accents in English. The data was derived from an anonymous survey and short fifteen- minute participant interviews. Though no solid conclusions can be drawn due to a small sample size, the implications of this study are profound and far-reaching. Establishing how extensive contact may influence a person’s language attitudes has value in a number of fields that go beyond sociolinguistic research, with implications in international politics, economic and social relations (both national and international) and importantly, teaching. It is the hope that more in-depth research will follow this study.Show less

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“Accents are just accents”: The role of contact and prolonged exposure in International teachers’ language attitudes.