The voices people read: Orthography and the representation of non‐standard speech

Abstract

Combining features of matched guise tests with sociolinguistic interviewing and oral performance, this study investigates the social meanings carried by non‐standard orthographies. Participant evaluations of the personas represented by non‐standard orthographies showed that people connected orthography to social identities. Specifically, we found that people uncritically and spontaneously read non‐standard orthographies as indices of low socioeconomic status. When we asked participants to read texts out loud, we found marked shifts in their reading performances of texts in standard versus non‐standard orthographies. Through a case study analysis of participants' readings and attitudes, we identify two kinds of stances taken by participants towards stigmatized identities indexed by non‐standard orthographies. Finally, we use these case studies to argue for the necessity of contextually rich qualitative research methods for the study of language attitudes.