User:Nickho20/sandbox

Sections to Add:

- How are accents formed?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/accents-are-forever-35886605/

• Differentiation of verbal inputs at 6 months old
  • Important for parents to speak to children even before they can speak back
  • cues processed and silently learned internally preparing for day when vocal cords are developed enough to let it out
  • Before infants can recognize words as words they are just noises that should be repeated. There is no "standard" accent to practice, as far as they're concerned, the accent they're hearing from their parents isn't just the "right" way, it's the only way.
  • Neural pathways are established in the brain that link a certain sound with a meaning
• The more words are heard the more their connections are solidified. Same goes for accents. Eventually we graduate from the conscious act of recalling the words. It becomes natural like breathing
• First words age 1
• As children grow up they will eventually learn vocabulary of language they are immersed in whether assisted by their parents or not. However, their FIRST encounter with the words determine the way the pronounce them for the rest of their lives. This is how accents are cultivated in groups as small as towns and as large as countries - compounding effect
• Before babies can speak for themselves
• Hearing a new accent or pronunciation of a word doesn't override your existing programming because the pathways created when learning the word were developed with the "original" pronunciation.
  • As time passes it becomes harder and harder to introduce new language. It creates interference.

The biological foundation for accent development begins in the womb. Even before an infant is capable of differentiating verbal cues at around 6 months old, it is imperative that parents speak to their children during pregnancy and in what's known the "Critical Period" in the first few years of life. During this period of rapid cognitive development, it is much easier to develop, and master, foreign skills such as learned a new (or first) language. Verbal cues are processed and silently learned in preparation for the day the vocal system is developed enough to speak its first words (usually around 12 months). Before infants can identify words, they just hear "sounds" that they comes to recognize. Eventually neural pathways are established in the brain that link each sound with a meaning. The more frequently a word in heard, the more its connection is solidified and the same goes for accents. There is no "standard" accent for the child to practice, as far as they're concerned, the accent they hear from their parents isn't the "right" way, it's the only way. Eventually we graduate from the conscious act of recalling each word, it becomes natural like breathing. As children grow up they learn vocabulary of the language they are immersed in, whether assisted by parents or not. However, their first few encounters with words determine the way they'll pronounce them for the rest of their lives. This is how accents are cultivated in groups as small as towns and as large as countries; it's a compounding effect. Though it's possible to develop a new accent or lose an old one, it's difficult because the neural pathways created when learning the language were developed with the "original" pronunciations.

- Do they affect perception of people?

https://newrepublic.com/article/119546/accents-can-influence-perception

• The way you hear something can be more impactful than what you actually hear
• People associate different behaviors and stereotypes with different accents. These have some truth to them but are often blown out of proportion.
• Leads to generalizations about entire cultures.
• Can be more impactful on perception than known perceptual dividers like race, religion, sex.

In some cases, the way you hear someone can be more impactful than what you actually hear. When interacting with someone new, your first encounter with their accent often overpowers the message they are trying to convey. People associate different behaviors and stereotypes with different accents; in some cases these notions can hold some truth but are often blown out of proportion. Unfortunately, this can lead to generalizations about entire cultures. Accents have even found to be more impactful on perception than known perceptual dividers like race, religion, or sex.

People place certain amounts of trust in others based on two factors stemming solely from the way they speak. First, people naturally relate to, and form connections with, other people when they can. It's comforting to the mind to find someone like you and accent is an easily identifiable factor with which to make a connection, even in it's subconsciously. Second are your previously held conceptions about people with certain accents. Despite forming a connection with someone, these factors could clash. It's the dynamic created by these two factors that works to shape your trust in a specific person (or general population for that matter) with an identifiable accent. Additionally, perspective is key: British accents are seen as "scholarly" or "intellectual" in America while in parts of Ireland and parts of Europe they are looked down upon.

Accents have even found to be more impactful on perception than known perceptual dividers like race, religion, or sex. In a PNAS study, babies were told to choose a toy from two recorded speakers with varying characteristics. Ahead of all variables tested, including race and gender, recordings speaking with an accent native to the child were selected at a considerably higher frequency.

Why do they Exist?

• Foreign accents
  • https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED426604.pdf
  • exist because there are sounds in some languages that don't exist in others.
  • We're born capable of understanding and producing every sound a human can make
    • At around 12 months infants will pick out which sounds they need to learn their language and the rest of the sounds will never be learned. As you get older it becomes increasingly harder to learn these "forgotten" sounds
  • Prime example of this is can be seen between German and English
    • "w" sounds in "wish" and "th" sounds in "this" don't exist in German. Closest sounds are "v" and "z" which is why many Germans speaking English will pronounce "wish" as "vish" or "this" as "zish"
    • The reverse happens too. The Umlaut accent mark in German creates vowel sounds that don't exist in English. Words like "schön" (beautiful) and "müde" (tired). The sounds created by the accent marks are foreign to English speakers.
• Regional Accents
  • https://news.psu.edu/story/141216/2005/08/29/research/probing-question-how-did-regional-accents-originate
  • Stem from when area was settled and by whom. Irish settlers in Pennsylvania, French in Louisiana,
  • Areas like the city of New Orleans in Louisiana that are, or at one point in time were, semi isolated have distinct accents because the absence of contact between regions allows dialects to expand and evolve independently.
  • Social and economic class can also effect accent. Regardless of where someone is from, their general level of education can be reasonably predicted.

Foreign vs. Regional Accents

Foreign:

Accents that differ by country are the result of different native languages. Each language contains sounds and tongues that are unique to its speakers. As humans we're born capable of understanding and producing and every sound a human can physically make. At around 12 months, infants will pick out which sounds they need to learn their langue and the rest of the sounds will never be learned. As you get older it becomes increasingly harder to learn these "forgotten" sounds. A prime example of this can be seen between German and English. The "w" and "th" sounds in the English words "wish" and "this" respectively do not exist in German. The closest sounds are "v" and "z" which is why man English-speaking Germans will pronounce "wish" and "vish" or "this" as "zish." A similar disjunction occurs in German speaking native English speakers. The Umlaut accent mark in German creates vowel sounds that don't exist in English: the Germans words "schön" (beautiful) and "müde" (tired) are examples. The sounds created by the accent marks are foreign to English speakers.

Regional:

Not only do accents vary between languages from different parts of the world, they also exist within regions of an area in which a uniform language is spoken. These regional accents can be traced back to when an area was settled and by whom. In America: Irish settlers in Pennsylvania and French settlers in Louisiana. Areas like the city of New Orleans in Louisiana that are, or at one point in time were, semi isolated have distinct accents due to the absence of contact between regions. Isolated regions allow dialects to expands and evolve independently. Social and economic factors can also influence the way people speak. Regardless of where someone is from, their general level of education can be reasonably inferred based on the way they speak.

Social Factors Heading Text Additions

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180307-what-does-your-accent-say-about-you

• Humans can (and often do) judge each other as soon as someone says "hello." Even if they continue to speak, your mind has already identified the type of person you're speaking with, applied existing stereotypes and generalization you might hold about that type of person, and in a way categorized them.
• Babies after birth prefer to hear sounds similar to those they heard in the womb.
  • Even if the first words a baby hears after birth are in English, if they heard their mother speaking French during pregnancy, it would take longer to learn English. (Even during the child's "learning period.")
• Babies can distinguish accents only several months after birth.
• Trust in accents
  • extremely fluid
  • Two factors
    • accent represents YOUR identity. People naturally like to relate to, and form connections with, other people when they can. It's comforting to the mind to find someone like you.
    • This could clash with pre-existing notions you hold about a certain accent though
      • The dynamic created by these two factors works to shape your trust in a specific person (or general population for that matter) you meet with an identifiable accent.
• All about perspective. British accents are seen as "scholarly" or "intellectual" in America. In parts of Ireland and parts of Europe they are looked down upon.

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Studies:

Two Studies Published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)

• https://www.pnas.org/content/110/37/15145
  • Made-up words played repeatedly in same room as pregnant woman. After birth same sound played for babies present and absent from audio recording. Brain scans were conducted and only babies present reacted to the "word" despite the fact it was made-up.
• https://www.pnas.org/content/104/30/12577
  • Babies were told to choose a toy from two recorded speaks with varying characteristics. Ahead of all variables tested, including race and gender, people speaking with an accent native to the child were selected considerably more frequently.
  • Babies because they too young to develop bias or anything like that.

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