“Ain’t Ain’t a Word”: Stigma Against Southern Speech in the Classroom Open Access
Dempsey, Shawna (Spring 2021)
Abstract
This research explores whether teachers’ prior experience with a student’s dialect influences grading outcomes. Specifically, I am interested in how negative language attitudes about Southern American English affect how teachers grade students who speak this variety as compared to “standard”-sounding students. This question stems from the nature of the education system as a language authority, which plays a crucial role in spreading standard language ideology (Lippi-Green, 2012). As such, studying the implicit biases that these authorities exercise toward students who speak with non-standard dialects when providing feedback is crucial for equity in the education system. In this study, participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Southern accent or standard accent. Participants evaluated two student assignments, a student presentation and an essay. First, participants observed a student presentation with all variables held constant except the student’s accent, which reflected the condition to which participants had been assigned. Participants then provided feedback regarding the presentation. Then, all participants evaluated and graded a student essay (identical between conditions) on an unrelated topic, which was explicitly attributed to the student presenter. The feedback and grades of each assignment were then compared between conditions. Moreover, grader comments were analyzed to further understand the grades administered. While the grades were not statistically different between conditions, Southern condition grades varied more widely than standard condition grades. This result demonstrates the lack of consensus that Southern condition graders had as compared to standard condition graders. These results are discussed in light of educator characteristics and research design. Practical implications are also discussed.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction 1
Standard Language Ideology 3
Language Attitudes 5
Southern English as ‘Other’ 6
SLI in the Classroom 7
Chapter Two: Methods 13
Participants 13
Materials and Methods 16
Demographic Survey 16
Student Presentation 16
Student Presentation Feedback Form 18
Student Essay 18
Student Essay Rubric 19
Design 19
Procedure 20
Data Analysis 21
Chapter Three: Results 22
Student Presentation 22
Grader Ratings 22
Grader Comments 24
Student Essay 29
Grader Ratings 29
Grader Comments 30
Language Experience 37
Academic Department 39
Individual Grading Differences 39
Chapter Four: Discussion 42
Variation in Southern Grades 42
Student Presentation 44
Grader Experience 45
Grading Across Disciplines 46
Practical Implications 47
References 49
Appendix A: Demographic Survey 52
Appendix B: Student Presentation Feedback Form 53
Appendix C: Student Essay Rubric 54
Appendix D: Tables 55
Appendix E: Figures 56
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