is to negative social evaluation of the accent in question, and a rejection of
the communicative burden.
When we are confronted with a new person we want to or must talk to,
we make a quick series of social evaluations based on many external cues,
one of them being the person’s language and accent. On the phone, of
course, the only cues we get are linguistic in nature.
Based on our personal histories, our own backgrounds and social selves
which together comprise a set of filters through which we hear the people
we talk to, we will take a communicative stance. Most of the time, we will
agree to carry our share of the burden (Figure 5.3). Sometimes, if we are
especially positive about the configuration of social characteristics we see
in the person, or if the purposes of communication are especially
important to us, we will accept a disproportionate amount of the burden.
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