Norwegian Attitudes Toward Non-native English Speakers and Accents

Abstract

I denne studien benyttes to ulike metoder for å svare på følgende forskningsspørsmål: 1) Hva er nordmenns holdninger til ulike utenlandske engelske aksenter og språkbrukere, og 2) er det en sammenheng mellom stereotypier om ulike nasjonaliteter og nordmenns holdninger til utenlandske engelske aksenter? Den første metoden som blir brukt er en indirekte metode som heter «verbal guise test», en type spørreundersøkelse der 51 nordmenn har evaluert lydopptak av fire ulike utenlandske engelske aksenter. Aksentene som ble evaluert er en tysk aksent, fransk aksent, russisk aksent og hindi aksent. Den andre metoden som blir benyttet er kvalitative intervjuer av utenlandske utvekslingsstudenter i Norge. Disse er utenlandske engelskbrukere i Norge, og disse intervjuene kan derfor gi et innblikk i nordmenns holdninger til utenlandske engelsk aksenter. Gjennom intervjuene deler informantene deres erfaringer med å være utenlandske engelskbrukere i Norge og deres tanker rundt nordmenns holdninger til ulike utenlandske engelsk aksenter. Informantene har aksenter som samsvarer med aksentene i spørreundersøkelsen. Hovedfunnene i studien er at Nordmenn rangerer vest-europeiske engelske aksenter som tysk og fransk høyere når det gjelder sosio-intelektuell status, enn andre utenlandske engelske aksenter. Videre viser funnene at den russiske aksenten evalueres negativt sammenlignet med de andre aksentene, og at den franske aksenten appellerer mer til nordmenn når det gjelder estetisk kvalitet.

This master’s thesis employs two sets of data to answer the following research questions: 1) What are Norwegian attitudes toward non-native English speakers and their accents and 2) Are there links between stereotypes/prejudices against certain nationalities and Norwegian attitudes toward non-native English speakers and accents? The first method used to assess these questions is an indirect method called a verbal guise test - executed as an online questionnaire in this study. 51 Norwegian university and college students responded to this questionnaire, evaluating four speech samples of different non-native English accents based on how they thought the speaker sounded. The speech samples included are recordings of a German, a French, a Hindi and a Russian speaker. These four non-native speakers were evaluated on 12 semantic differential items using a 7-point scale. These 12 items represented the following three factors: socio-intellectual status, aesthetic quality, and dynamism. In order to gain further insight into Norwegian attitudes, four non-native English speakers studying in Norway (who are not Norwegian) were interviewed. The qualitative data collected through these interviews are included in this thesis to provide insight into the experiences of non-native English speakers living in Norway. Specifically, they provide insight into Norwegian attitudes toward non-native English speakers and their accents. Importantly, the qualitative data is used to clarify findings from the verbal guise test. Similarities between the two datasets are drawn on to develop the discussion of Norwegian attitudes. The main findings of this study are that western European non-native accents such as German and French are rated and perceived higher in terms of socio-intellectual status than other non-native English accents and speakers. Specifically, that the Russian speech sample is evaluated quite negatively in comparison to the other speech samples. Another main finding is that Norwegians rate and perceive the French accent and French people higher in terms of aesthetic quality and attractiveness.