Linguistic Perception on Multilingual/Unknown Speakers

Multilingual people, including foreigners, are often judged by their accent, and they usually are categorized within seconds as the other - the person who is not part of the group. This can become an issue because as the American population gets more diverse and multilingual interactions arise, people might not be able to outsmart their biases causing linguistic discrimination to increase. This research will explore when people listen to others for the first time and if they are more interested in their accents, or their otherness , and where that perception is coming from. Through a structured interview process and group discussions, this study will look at how people talk and opine about other people’s accents. This project would try to clarify and find answers to how people form their impressions around people and their dialect, and if they haven’t heard an accent, if they make a familiar connection or not.