Language Attitudes
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thus providing stimuli in addition to the accent variable. The pitch and rate variables
appeared to become more prominent to the listeners, thus mediating the predicted effects
of accent. Similarly, one could develop samples of AAVE in which speech rate and
vocal pitch (as well as other vocal cues) are varied. Responses might reveal salient
speaker characteristics that rival or overshadow cues provided by dialect. Such a
research design could help researchers distinguish attitudes toward the speaker, over and
against attitudes toward the dialect, thus clarifying just what listeners are responding to.
These suggestions, including stereotype threats and manipulating vocalic cues, are
but two ideas for future research designs. Following the lead of Cargile and Bradac
(2001), these suggestions are meant as examples of the kind of research issues to consider
when focusing on the hearer in language attitude research. Although there are many
more possibilities to contemplate in future studies, those presented here offer at least a
beginning. In all cases, as Cargile and Bradac observe, research in the realm of language
attitudes will advance when it moves beyond the traditional stimulus-response format and
into a more theoretically rich mode.
Summary and Conclusion
Since the 1960s, various experimental studies in the United States have examined
attitudes toward AAVE. In most of the studies, when AAVE is compared to SAE, the
attitudes reveal a tendency to judge SAE more favorably. The research has shown that
such attitudes emerge differently depending on the design of the study, that attitudes of
whites are not invariably less favorable toward AAVE, that many blacks also rate SAE
more favorably, and that younger blacks may rate AAVE more favorably. The most
Convention