The competence of the professional standard language speaker in flux? Support from the speech therapy context

• Published in: Language & communication Vol. 81; pp. 1 - 16
• Main Authors: Zenner, Eline, Grondelaers, Stefan, Rosseel, Laura, Speelman, Dirk, Esselinckx, Marie, Rombouts, Ellen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2021; Pergamon Press Inc
• Subjects: Competence; Context; Dutch language; Language ideologies; Language usage; Professional discourse; Respondents; Socialization; Sociolinguistics; Speaker evaluation; Speech; Speech therapy; Speech-language pathologists; Standard language ideology; Therapy; Tolerance; Competence; Speaker evaluation; Speech therapy; Standard language ideology; Professional discourse
• ISSN: 0271-5309; 1873-3395
• DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2021.08.002

This paper pressure tests the claim that professional speakers who use the standard language are perceived as more competent, by (1) unpacking ‘competence’; (2) disentangling the discursive complexity of ‘professional speech context’; (3) accounting for respondents' language socialization background. In our experiment, Belgian Dutch speech therapy students (N = 77) and a control group (N = 54) evaluate a speech therapist who does (not) use standard language in relational and transactional professional discourse. Results reveal (1) a more conservative versus a more dynamic conception of ‘competence’; (2) penalization of standard language use in informal speech; (3) slightly higher sociolinguistic sensitivity for speech therapy respondents. The perceived tolerance towards non-standard speech in high standard expectancy contexts begs a reconsideration of language ideology in professional communication. •We focus on the understudied communicative context of speech therapy sessions.•This context is highly relevant, given the tension between strong standard language expectancy and need for trust-based therapy.•This paper results from an interdisciplinary collaboration between sociolinguists, psycholinguists and speech therapists.•The methodology imbues the speaker evaluation paradigm with insights from qualitative approaches to linguistic variation.•Surprising results are attested, with strong penalization of standard language use in informal speech in therapy.