Foreign accents make speakers seem less truthful to listeners

http://www.physorg.com/news198776761.html

I found this article to be interesting in light of the conversation we had last night in class about how to present quotes from people who don't speak english as their primary language.

"Accent might reduce the credibility of non-native job seekers, eyewitnesses, reporters or people taking calls in foreign call centers," said Shiri Lev-Ari, lead author of "Why Don't We Believe Non-native Speakers? The Influence of Accent on Credibility," written with Keysar and published in the current issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Levi-Ari is a post-doctoral researcher at the University whose work focuses on the interactions between native and non-native speakers.

Of course as reporters we don't project an accent but I think that this research can be extended to the nonnative speaker who struggles with rules of grammar or translation. If their words are presented exactly, I believe it diminishes the credibility of their statements.

Don't get my mother, whose native language is Romanian, started on this subject. She believes she has been discriminated against for years in America because she has an accent.