Learning linguistic diversity: Listeners have race-based linguistic expectations, but only for phonological variation

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Sociolinguistic learning involves associating linguistic variation with speaker characteristics.
• Previous research has explored how listeners perceive and learn these associations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the rate at which adults learn associations between linguistic variation and speaker characteristics.
• To examine how different types of speaker characteristics (social vs. nonsocial) and linguistic variants (phonological vs. morphological) affect learning.
• To understand the role of listeners' initial expectations in sociolinguistic learning.

Main Methods:

• Three artificial language experiments were conducted with adult participants.
• Listeners were exposed to linguistic variations (phonological or morphological) linked to different speaker characteristics (race, sex/gender, hat wearing).
• Data were collected on participants' ability to learn and articulate these associations.

Main Results:

• Sociolinguistic learning occurred regardless of whether the speaker characteristic was social or nonsocial, or the type of linguistic variant.
• Listeners' initial expectations influenced learning outcomes.
• Participants were more likely to associate phonological variants with social properties than nonsocial ones.
• Speaker race was prioritized over sex/gender for phonological variants.
• White participants were more accurate in identifying the linguistic-social correlations, suggesting a role for real-world experience.

Conclusions:

• Adults readily learn associations between linguistic variation and speaker characteristics.
• Listeners' pre-existing expectations shape sociolinguistic learning.
• The salience of social properties like race in predicting linguistic variation is influenced by the type of variant.
• Real-world experiences with language and social diversity appear crucial for refining sociolinguistic learning accuracy.