The Influence of Speech Variety on Teachers' Evaluation of Students with Comparable Academic Ability

Abstract

This study considers teachers' evaluations of students who perform equivalently in written academic work but who have distinct speech varieties. Stimulus materials to which teachers were asked to react were collected from third and fourth graders in schools in the Southwest of the United States. The materials included speech samples (some of which exhibited Spanish-influenced English and some of which did not) and writing samples which exhibited no Spanish influence. Forty teachers evaluated paired speech and writing samples, assuming that each pair had been produced by one and the same student. In fact, the writing samples had been independently evaluated as equal before they were paired with the speech samples, half of which exhibited Spanish influence. In their evaluations, all teachers favored the non-Spanish-influenced speakers despite the evidence of comparable written work. Length of teaching experience and teacher ethnicity did not significantly affect the degree or directionality of differences in the teachers' ratings of the speech groups. However, in evaluating social status, the teachers who spoke Spanish as a first language showed significantly less difference between their ratings of the two groups than did the other teachers. This study offers evidence that, due to the stereotyped expectations of teachers, Spanish-influenced English speakers are at a disadvantage in schools in geographic areas of the United States where there are large Hispanic populations. This evidence is also of relevance to other parts of the world where linguistic prejudice may exist. The findings further suggest that a teacher's first language may affect that teacher's perception of students who speak distinct speech varieties.