Sound Reasoning: Why Accent Bias Matters for Democratic Theory

Introduction: Linguistic justice, migration and the nation‐state

“…Alongside formal language requirements that regulate migrants' access to legal and/or political membership in their host society, informal linguistic norms can also condition migrants' ability to fully belong to that society, even when they are generally proficient in its dominant language. More precisely, when migrants speak that language in a way that is considered “non‐standard” by its native speakers, they may still be viewed as outsiders or less deserving of membership in that society (Peled & Bonotti, 2019; Shohamy, 2009). Indeed, extensive scholarship in linguistics has shown, for example, that speaking English with a foreign accent can often result in the speaker being considered less intelligent, competent, educated and/or trustworthy than those who speak with a native accent (Lippi‐Green, 2012; Moyer, 2013).…”

Citizenship, language tests, and political participation

“…As well as providing a further reason against language tests, our analysis also signals the importance of educating citizens (and especially native speakers of the majority language) to attentive listening and, more broadly, to the development of greater linguistic awareness and intercultural competence, in order for them to become aware of, and hopefully overcome, linguistic prejudice and bias. As well as via formal education, these cooperative attitudes could also be encouraged via the normalization of different ways of speaking, including language varieties and accents, in the media (Peled & Bonotti, 2019).…”

“…These prejudices and biases can impose significant obstacles on their ability to be accepted as politically competent participants in democratic life. Indeed, as extensive evidence in sociolinguistics shows, the way someone speaks deeply affects a listener's perception of that person's intelligence, competence, and trustworthiness, and this seriously undermines the realization of such key democratic values as equality and inclusivity (Peled & Bonotti, 2019). For example, accents that enjoy different levels of social prestige are associated by listeners with different degrees of speaker's competency or friendliness (Garrett, 2001(Garrett, , 2010.…”

Academic Migration, Linguistic Justice, and Epistemic Injustice*

“…Much as gender or race do with respect to members of different gendered or racialized groups, language 10 I thank an anonymous referee for suggesting this narrower focus and the exploration of the "linguistic ideology" of a depoliticized view of language. 11 Ives 2014;May 2015;Peled and Bonotti 2019;Taylor 2016;Wierzbicka 2006;Wright 2015. 12 Language reflects and maintains background power relations: see, e.g., the sexism and ableism respectively underlying the French grammar rule that "the masculine always prevails over the feminine" or the term "autism spectrum disorder.…”