Comments on: Why we distrust foreign accents

By: syed hoda

syed hoda — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:20:52 +0000

I definitely agree with Jacob; i feel that people of higher education OR exposure will react differently. Also, there are many americans, for example, who have never even left this country or have minimal multicultural exposure on a daily basis—-contrasted with people from (for example) New York City, who daily encounter a number of accents and multicultural linguistic manipulations. Interesting though…

By: Alex McManus

Alex McManus — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:54:04 +0000

Jacob, I offer this comment in good humor and in the spirit of mutual learning. It sounds to me like your comment may be based on your instincts and the gut feelings produced by your experience rather than facts alone. In my experience, level of education is not as much a factor as are one’s self-awareness, one’s life experiences, and one’s values. Also, I think it a mistaken perception to believe that people with higher education decide based on facts whereas people with lower education decide based on feelings. In my experience, highly educated people often based their decisions on feelings and instinct. This may be an issue of temperament rather than education. So, with regard to the study, the findings of this research seem to point towards a basic xenophobic streak that runs throughout our species. Best, Alex

By: Josen Zhong

Josen Zhong — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:42:57 +0000

I believe Lucie Richter has made a significant exploration by minimize the accents in to two categories, English speaking countries: like British and USA, and Non-English speaking countries: like France and some other European countries. However, commonly they treat English as the second national language and study it since primary school. In this case, the accent of some European countries may not course much difficulty in communicating or judgmental. So, in my opinion, the object should be further categorized by comprising Eastern countries, such as China and Japan. People in those countries are not treat English as a national language or any kind may face opposite influence of credibility by speaking English.

By: Lucie Richter

Lucie Richter — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:36:49 +0000

To add a point to this intriguing discussion, are there some foreign accents that have the opposite effect? For example, the British accents. In a business context, I often hear comments such as “I could listen to [person with British accent] talk for hours.”

By: Dilip Chaudhuri

Dilip Chaudhuri — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:30:07 +0000

I fully agree with the findings of the subject research as well as with the two previous comments on the subject. I am a retired professor of engineering with academic and scietnific exposure to the educated community in USA and European countries for over 40 years. I have not made any conscious effort to erase my native accent while speaking in English. I hardly ever had any difficulty in communicating either with my students or with peers. Yet I have occasionally experienced small difficulties in communicating with community at large and even with people having a moderate level of education, which I, think corroborates the comments made earlier.

By: Janet Moore, Global Rainmaking

Janet Moore, Global Rainmaking — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:16:19 +0000

That is an excellent point, Jacob van der Horn. In addition to educational level, I wonder whether the listener’s level of international experience–positive and negative–impacts the results. For example, an experienced international businessperson who is accustomed to communicating across cultures may be less judgmental–especially if his/her cross-cultural experiences have been positive.

By: Jacob van der Horn

Jacob van der Horn — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:15:55 +0000

I am wondering if the level of education of the listener is of influence .
My experience is that people with a higher education and intelligence are less influenced by an accent. They usually base their judgement on facts.
Lesser educated people must more rely on their instincts or gut feelings.
I have a strong dutch accent!!