Accent bias and language as a social construct with Vijay Ramjattan | Ep. #10
Hedvig speaks with sociolinguistics researcher Dr Vijay Ramjattan about accents, societal biases, and perception.
Hedvig speaks with sociolinguistics researcher Dr Vijay Ramjattan about accents, societal biases, and perception. We tend not to recognise that language is not just a skill, but a social tool with a deep history in power dominance, colonialism and discrimination. This episode contains a few stories about racist discrimination.
Further learning:
- Nelson Flores & Jonathan Rosa - raciolinguistic ideologies
- Donald Rubin on imagined accent perception: “Effects of accent, ethnicity, and lecture topic on undergraduates’ perceptions of nonnative English-speaking teaching assistants”, Rubin & Smith, 1990
- "Give Me Your Name and I'll tell You Whether You Speak with an Accent": The Effect of Proper Names Ethnicity on Listener Expectations - Prikhodkine, Saavedra & Mamed (2016)
- Quote: “The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors.” Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paolo Friere (1968)
- The question of “Who owns a language?” and the idea of bringing your whole self into a language are also discussed in episode 4 of the Abundate Podcast
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Vijay Ramjattan
Researcher and Adult Educator
Vijay Ramjattan is an Academic Listening and Speaking instructor at the University of Toronto. His research interests pertain to the intersections of language, race, and work. Vijay received his PhD in Adult Education and Community Development from the University of Toronto and is a member of the Language, Culture and Justice Hub at Brandeis University.
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