This study explores how stereotypical preconceptions about gender and conversational behaviour may affect observers’ perceptions of a speaker’s performance. Using updated matched-guise techniques, we digitally manipulated the same recording of a conversation to alter the voice quality of “Speaker A” to sound “male” or “female.” Respondents’ perceptions of the conversational behaviour of Speaker A in the two guises were then measured with particular focus on floor apportionment, interruptions and signalling interest. We also measured respondents’ explicit stereotypical gender preconceptions of these aspects. Results showed that respondents perceived the male guise as having more floor apportionment and interrupting more than the female guise. Results also indicated that the respondents had explicit stereotypes that matched these patterns, i.e. that interrupting and taking space were deemed to be stereotypically male behaviour, while signalling interest was deemed to be a female feature. The study suggests that stereotypical preconceptions about gender and conversational behaviour may skew perceptions of similar linguistic behaviour.

This chapter describes the methodological processes involved in the project Raising Awareness using Virtual Experiencing (RAVE), funded by the Swedish Research council. The aim of the project is to develop experiential pedagogic approaches aimed at raising sociolinguistic language awareness about stereotyping and language. A key feature of the method consists of updated matched-guise techniques, whereby the same recording is digitally manipulated to alter the voice quality of a speaker to sound “male” or “female”, for example. These versions of the recording are then used as input stimuli for a response phase aimed at illustrating how we as listeners react differently to a person, and what is being said, depending on the perceived identity of the speaker. This chapter then illustrates how results are used as a starting point for discussions with respondents (student groups) on issues related to stereotyping and language, with the aim to raise awareness and self-reflection.

In accordance with the Education 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals, the aim of this study is to contribute to gender-sensitive teacher training and learning environments using matched guise-inspired methods. The article offers an account of activities aimed at raising awareness of issues related to linguistic gender stereotyping among teacher trainees in Sweden and the Seychelles. The cross-cultural comparative approach also provided an opportunity to raise students’ awareness of how gender stereotyping is culture-related, and therefore may differ depending on cultural context. Results show that there seems to be significant differences in how Swedish and Seychellois teacher trainees stereotype men and women. While both groups seem to associate typically feminine linguistic behaviour with features accommodated under Cuddy et al.’s (2008, “Warmth and competence as universal dimensions of social perception: The stereotype content model and the BIAS map.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 40, 61–149) “warmth dimension” (signalling interest, for example), behaviours typically associated with agentic behaviour and the competence dimension, such as taking space in a conversation and forcefully arguing one’s case, seem to be regarded as relatively masculine in Sweden, but not in the Seychelles, arguably a result of a generally negative construction of masculinity in the Seychelles. Based on the responses from a post-survey, it is evident that a majority of those who participated in the exercise gained new insights into the mechanisms of gender stereotyping, knowledge that they also could relate to themselves and their own behaviour.

From a structural perspective, some English accents (be they native or foreign) carry higher status than others, which in turn may decide whether you get a job or not, for example. So how do language teachers approach this enigma, and how does this approach differ depending on the cultural context you are operating in? These are some of the questions addressed in this article. The study is based on a matched-guise experiment conducted in Sweden and the Seychelles, a small island nation outside the east coast of Africa, where respondents (active teachers and teacher trainees) were asked to evaluate the same oral presentations on various criteria such as grammar, pronunciation, structure etc. Half of the respondents listened to a version that was presented in Received Pronunciation (RP), while the other half evaluated the same monologue presented by the same person, but in an Indian English (IE) accent. Note, that careful attention was paid to aspects such as pacing, pauses etc. using ‘Karaoke technique”. Our results indicate that the responses from the two respondent groups differ significantly, with the Seychelles group being far more negative towards IE than the Swedish group. We try to explain these results in the light of subsequent debriefing discussions with the respondent groups, and we also reflect over the benefits and drawbacks of this type of exercise for raising sociolinguistic awareness among teacher trainees and active teachers. The study is part of a larger project (funded by the Wallenberg foundation) that approaches the challenge of increasing sociolinguistic awareness regarding language and stereotyping, and highlighting cross-cultural aspects of this phenomenon.