When Accents Have Feet

The older we get and the longer we've been exposed to certain speech patterns, the more they'll stick. It isn't guaranteed that a native accent will shift from spending years in a new country, and it doesn't always take much exposure for one's accent to pick up new quirks.

Why Accents Wander: The Chameleon Effect

The psychologists claim that adopting the accents, mannerisms, and speech patterns of interaction partners is common to the human communication experience. Interestingly, their research found behavioral mirroring occurrs between strangers as well as people that are familiar with each other. Kim Namjoon and Adele Roberts may not have been friends, but the former still adopted her accent throughout the interview.

Picture this: you're having a job interview. As your interviewer asks you a question, they pick up their coffee mug sitting on the table. Unconsciously, you find yourself doing the same thing. When they shift and fold one leg over the other, you mirror their posture. This imitation game is what psychologists Tanya L. Chartrand and John A. Bargh call the "chameleon effect."

This is Kim Namjoon, known by his stage name RM and leader of the South Korean music group BTS.

Part I: The Wondrous Wandering Accent

As the group’s most fluent English speaker, he often takes charge in international interviews and speeches. The accent RM uses is influenced by the American media he engages with. But as we listen closely to the group's interviews, an interesting phenomenon presents itself.

This interview took place in 2018, hosted by BBC Radio 1’s Adele Roberts, the first in-person BBC interview for the group.

Now, let’s flash forward a year to 2019.&nbsp;

BTS Exclusive Interview #BTSonBBCR1

BTS: Korea to Wembley

Here, (specifically at 4:05-4:56), we can hear RM using an American accent.

Once again, the group is interviewed by BBC Radio 1 and speaks with Adele Roberts. Only this time, RM’s accent sounds a bit different. Here (1:43-2:21), he uses a British accent, or his approximation of one.

Article Analysis I did quite a bit of research for this assignment (a lot of it highly irrelevant to the topic). I wanted to get a well-rounded understanding not just of wandering accents, but of accents in general and human behavior. My goal was to integrate these articles without bogging down my own writing and maintaining the flow and coherence of my piece.&nbsp;

Chameleon Effect Study

Accent mimicry or wandering accents fall under the grand umbrella of influenced characteristics related to the chameleon effect. Much of my research for wandering accents led me to information about this paradigm. I added a cute chameleon picture as a visual to break the word monotony. 

Voice Recording Admittedly, I felt a bit awkward recording voice segments for this book. Hearing your own voice back can sound really funny, but it added a bit more character to that section and personalized the work overall. Plus, some things are easier to understand spoken rather than read, and I didn't want to neglect auditory learners. Once again, please forgive the awful accent.

Babbling Baby Viral Video Utilizing media that can't normally be used in a traditional book was my personal challenge. I really wanted to enhance the reading experience with as many different mediums as possible. I selected this medium because not only was it perfect for the section, but the video itself is immensely popular and enjoyable. That embodies the main goal of my book: presenting information in an enjoyable format.

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But...What Are Wandering Accents?

Kim Namjoon’s adopted British speech is actually a common phenomenon tied to the chameleon effect and is informally known as a "wandering accent."

Essentially, a person whose original accent shifts to mimic that of their new environment is victim of a wandering accent. Generally, wandering accents are performed unintentionally. However, since it's difficult to distinguish whether accent mimicry is conscious or unconscious, we'll play with a loser definition and examine accent mimicry as a whole.

This was such a good addition. Sorry for the random comment insertion. Usually I relegate myself to the cover but I wanted to give you props for this addition to your project

The Birth of an Accent

The words the baby produces have the same sound characteristics as their guardians', or the voice they've learned from the most.

Before we answer the question of why accents wander, let's first explore how humans develop accents. By broad definition courtesy of the Linguistic Society of America, accents are the way we sound when we speak.&nbsp;Foreign accents and native accents are the two main accent types. Patricia Kuhl, director of the Center for the Mind, Brain, and Learning at the University of Washington, states accent development occurs before a baby even utters their first words. Infants register sounds in their early stage of life and later reproduce them. In a Smithsonian Magazine interview, Kuhl compared the process to a computer taking in more and more data and eventually printing out words.

Dad Has full Convo with his Baby

As depicted in this viral video where a father converses with his baby, children are masters of mimicry.

Reviewing: "What is Language Discrimination? And Why Should We Stop It?" by Lisa Sedita 

Reviewing: "Dialects in the Fictional Realm" by Jade Abbriano

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Reader Feedback of Peer Projects

Reviewing: "What is Language Discrimination? And Why Should We Stop It?" by Lisa Sedita

I came across many interesting texts while researching for this project (some I had to unfortunately exclude for lack of cohesion). All the articles referenced, videos, and pictures have been included in the cited works page at the end of this section for freedom of perusal.

BTS Video Interviews I decided to open my book with a video example of a wandering accent. While a simple concept to grasp, many may not have experienced a wandering accent or recognize accent shifts in conversations. When I first watched these interviews, I found the accent distinction fascinating, so much so that I wanted to focus my topic around wandering accents.

Part II: Author's Notes

Part I: The Wondrous Wandering Accent

Why Accents Wander: The Chameleon Effect...

Chartrand, Tanya L. and Bargh, John A. "The Chameleon Effect: The Perception--Behavior Link and Social Interaction." acmelab.yale.edu. Journal of Personlity and Social Psychology 1999 Vol. 76, No. 6, 893-910. Web. November 8 2020

BBC Radio 1. "BTS Exclusive Interview." Online Video. YouTube. Jan 19 2018. Web. Nov 8 2020.

BBC Radio 1. "BTS: Korea to Wembley." Online Video. YouTube. June 11 2019. Web. Nov 8 2020

"Imitating Someone's Accent Makes It Easier to Understand Them." Association for Psychological Science. psychologicalscience.org. Dec 6 2010. Web. Nov 8 2020

Acery. Featuring Comedian DJ Pryor and son Kingston. "Dad Has Full Convo with His Baby." YouTube. June 5, 2019. Web. Nov 8 2020.

Thorpe, JR. "The Real Reason Some People Adopt Other Accents." bustle.com. Oct 13, 2015. Web. Nov 8, 2020.

Birner, Betty. "Why Do Some People Have an Accent?" linguisticsociety.org. Linguistic Society of America. Web. Nov 8 2020

There are innumerable reasons for why accents are imitated. From frequent travel to neurology; there are a multitude of explanations, and each situation is unique. An accent may wander due to the speaker's subconscious hopes of finding empathy and bonding with those that share the adopted accent. When moving to a new region or country, some might develop the native accent of their new home, adapting to the environment. Accent imitation can also help us better understand each other. A 2010 study from the Psychological Science journal of the Association for Psychological Science suggested accent imitation helps people better understand sentences spoken in unfamiliar accents. The article doesn't fail to note that phony accent imitation would likely have the reverse effect.

Wandering Accents and Our World

Whatever the cause, our "chameleonism" has valuable purpose in everyday life.

Wandering accents are a vital aspect of human engagement. Although it can be viewed as a tactic of conformity, accent mimicry serves as a way of easing communication and forming a subconscious connection with others. My paternal family lives in the South. Though I live in the northeast, my accent is influenced by those Southern roots and connects me to the family I don't often see. That subconscious southern mimicry combined with my native dialect forms the accent which embodies who I am. There's much left to discover about this linguistic quirk, but unlike other technical fields, accents are something we can all identify with and explore. No matter where it wanders, an accent is remarkably yours.

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