The Effect of Speaker Information on Attitudes Toward (ING)

Abstract

Speakers build linguistic styles by combining elements of existing styles, a process known as bricolage , which results in stylistic resources appearing across multiple styles. Although speakers’ ability to construct and deploy styles across situations has been documented repeatedly, little perceptual work has been done on how linguistic cues function across styles. This study used a matched guise experiment to examine the impact of the English variable (ING) on social perceptions of speakers presented as professors, political candidates, or experienced professionals. As predicted, profession shifted the impact of (ING) on perceived knowledgeability, such that professors were seen as more knowledgeable when using -ing, whereas experienced professionals were more knowledgeable in their -in guises. Use of -in also made all speakers sound less caring and created a positive relationship between political progressiveness and caring in perceptions of political candidates.