A Word Worth a Thousand Pictures: Non-Native Accents and Their Strength in Perceptions of Stigmatization, Communication Challenges, and Social Belonging

A non-native accent---the way one pronounces words differently from the accepted standard---is an important social identity. It is also a prevalent form of stigma. Native speakers show widespread stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination toward people who speak with non-native accents. However, research on the speaker's perspectives on accents has been limited. The present dissertation seeks to advance, both theoretically and empirically, a social psychological approach to investigating the role of non-native accents in speakers' perceptions and experiences. Moreover, it proposes a theoretical model of stigma of accents in communication, which, in addition to the speaker, considers the listener, the contextual factors, and the interaction between non-natively and natively accented speakers.;The dissertation's primary goal is to contribute to the existing theoretical and empirical literature on non-native accents in social psychology. The three specific aims include, first, to present and further a theoretical approach and empirical evidence on the speaker; second, to advance understanding of accents as a stigma; and third, to underscore the role of communication in the stigma of accents. Because an accent is a cue for individual's out-group status and may lead to either perceived or actual challenges in communication, I consider how accents constitute a unique type of stigma due to their fundamental connection with communication.;The dissertation comprises six chapters: the General Introduction to the dissertation (Chapter 1), four papers (one theoretical and three empirical; Chapters 2--5), and the General Discussion (Chapter 6). Chapter 2 proposes a theoretical model of stigma of non-native accents in communication, a foundation for the subsequent empirical research. Chapters 3 and 4 empirically demonstrate that perceptions of stigmatization and communicative challenges are important in shaping speakers' experiences, in particular social belonging, and examine the role of accent strength in those perceptions. Chapter 5 applies an experimental approach to examine social consequences of having a non-native accent in an anticipated interaction with a native speaker. The General Discussion (Chapter 6) considers other relevant theories and proposes future research directions. Throughout the work, the importance of considering non-native accents, especially from the speaker's perspective, in the globalizing world, is emphasized.