Pragmatics of Accents

“This volume presents a strong collection of studies in pragmatics that should be of interest to scholars not just in linguistics but also across other disciplines, particularly language education, second language acquisition, and anthropology. At its core and through this interdisciplinary lens, this collection successfully interrogates the theoretical status of the notion of accent. [...] “Pragmatics of Accents” effectively pushes us to consider the study of accents in deeper and more complex ways, illustrating how the linguistic and interactional dynamics in the production, perception, and interpretation of accents must be approached through a pragmatic lens, as well as how this approach serves as a link to an array of interrelated fields. Because of the wealth and range of data and perspectives that it draws upon to conceptualize the theoretical notion of accent, articles from the book would serve well as core readings in an advanced undergraduate or graduate course concerned with the close connections between language variation, context, and the nature and impact of language ideologies.”

“This volume provides a variety of national and ethnic contexts (e.g. Swiss-French, Turkish-German, Korean-American) and an extensive range of micro-interactions and analyses thereof. From numerical scales (e.g. chapter 10), to discourse and conversation (e.g. chapter 9), the meaning of accent is as varied as the contexts in which it appears and the methodologies which are used to analyse it, emphasising, thus, the “pragmatics of accents”. This book is well-suited for a wide range of audiences from various fields, including pragmatics.”

“The chapters herein demonstrate new ways of conceiving of and studying accent, suggesting promising new pathways for future research.”

“I found this a very rewarding collection. [...] The reader is rewarded throughout with fascinating insights, whether mentioned in passing, such as evidence that even ‘strong’ L2 accents often have no impact on unintelligibility and comprehensibility (Levis & McCrocklin), or as the main conclusion of a series of studies, such as Trimaille and Candea’s conclusion that accent perception is shaped not just by acoustic features, but by visual cues of identity (clothing, gestures etc.), vocabulary choice and other assumptions. Strongly recommended.”