Mississippi community college instructors' perceptions of cultural accents

The accent with which a person speaks tells much about the speaker. The listener may judge the speaker unfairly based on preconceived notions about certain accents. Research was undertaken to determine whether the cultural accent that people spoke influenced how community college instructors perceived them. No other studies were found that addressed how community college instructors perceived their students based on how they spoke. Seven cultural accents were investigated: General American English, Black American English, Cajun American English, Southern American English, India American English, Asia American English, and Latin American English.;This one-way analysis of variance research design surveyed 59 instructors who represented 12 of the 15 Community/Junior Colleges in Mississippi to test for significant differences in perception of cultural accent. The research might initiate discussion concerning instructional bias regarding cultural accent.;The results indicated that only two of these accents had significant differences when compared to General American English. These two were Black American English and Hispanic American English. General American English with a mean of 3.6986 and evaluation of average ranked higher than the others. Black American English with a mean of 3.4129 and Hispanic American English with a mean of 3.5570 were ranked lower than the other five accents studied. The data suggested that the cultural accent that a speaker used when speaking did influence perception by the listener.