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RESEARCH PRODUCT
“Come join us, and lose your accent!” : Accent Modification Courses as Hierarchization of International Student
Taina SaarinenMia HalonenJohanna Ennser-kananensubject
Language ideologyinternational studentAccent reductionmedia_common.quotation_subjectEthnic grouplanguage ideology02 engineering and technologysosiolingvistiikkaEducationPhenomenon0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineeringLanguage proficiencySociologyhierarkiaLegitimacymedia_commonulkomaalaiset opiskelijatkieltenopetusopiskelijatrodullistaminen05 social sciences050301 educationkielitaito020206 networking & telecommunicationskielikurssitLinguisticsAccent (music)student hierarchizationIdeology0503 educationaksenttiideologiatdescription
In this article, we examine the hierarchization of international students by bringing together perspectives of linguistic legitimacy and language ideologies. Our data stems from 26 accent reduction (AR) or accent modification (AM) course descriptions and websites from US universities. Based on their analysis, we discuss the socio-political implications of the phenomenon of these courses for international students and the ways in which language-based, particularly accent-based, arguments are used to create or reinforce different categories of students. We argue that while international students are presented as having different kinds of “comprehensibility problems” that AM/AR courses are claimed to remedy, the seemingly linguistic arguments that are used for marketing do not hold. Rather, what is presented as an accent issue actually seems to be an ideological one, drawing on the students’ ethnic or geographical origins, and thereby racializing the question of language proficiency.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-05-15 |