White and Negro Listeners' Reactions to Various American-English Dialects

Samples of the taped speech of representatives of six American-English dialect groups (Network, Educated White Southern, Educated Negro Southern, Mississippi Peer, Howard University, New York Alumni) were played to three groups of college students (one northern white, one southern white and one southern Negro), who were asked to listen to the recorded readings and evaluate certain characteristics of the speakers, using an adjective checklist developed for this purpose. It was found that both northern white and southern Negro judges rated the Network speakers most favorably, and the Educated Negro Southern speakers next. The southern white students also evaluated the Network speakers most favorably, but, in contrast, the Educated White Southern speakers next most favorably. On the other hand, both groups of white judges rated the Mississippi Peer speakers least favorably, while the Negro judges rated the Educated White Southern speakers least favorably. The theoretical and practical significance of the results are discussed.