Arizona educational stakeholders’ perceptions of K12 teachers’ accented speech

This research examines the perceptions of 141 Arizona educational stakeholders’ (i.e. teachers, parents, high school students, and teacher candidates) perceptions of five English L1 teachers and five English LX teachers (with Spanish as their L1). Listeners responded to a survey in which they heard brief (1.5-2 min) recordings from each speaker; they then rated each recording on the teacher’s accentedness, comprehensibility, and perceived teaching suitability. Results showed that educational stakeholders evaluated the English LX teachers as less suitable to teach than the English L1 teachers and drew on linguistic features of their speech to make those judgments. Further, stakeholders differed from each other in their evaluations (e.g. teacher candidates rated the English LX teachers more leniently on accentedness and perceived teaching suitability). Recommendations are offered to increase tolerance for linguistic diversity within the education context.