Accent often points to social information like a speaker’s social class, where they’re from, and their sexuality. Often people will rely on accent to make judgements about unrelated traits like intelligence or reliability. This can lead to what linguists have called accent bias or linguistic discrimination.
Dr Christian Ilbury
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This episode's guests
Dr. Christian Ilbury
Dr Ilbury is a sociolinguist who is principally interested in exploring the social meaning of variable patterns of language.
His primary research interest is the interrelation of digital culture and language variation and change, exploring how people’s digital engagements influence their linguistic practices.
He is also interested in language, politics, and globalisation.
Gilly Marchini
Gilly is a PhD Researcher in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. Prior to joining the Edinburgh of Edinburgh, she completed an Integrated Masters in French and Spanish Linguistic Studies from the University of Southampton in 2019.
Related links
- Dr Christian Ilbury
- Accent Bias Britain
- The Sutton Trust Report
- Gilly Marchini
- Study Linguistics at The University of Edinburgh
- Linguistics research at The University of Edinburgh