Brian from Callisburg, Texas

Brian is from Callisburg, a small town near Waco, Texas

, where he grew up all of his life. The primary occupation of the resident’s is farming. He is a business major and very involved in the Texan culture. He even showed up to the interview wearing cowboy boots.

On impression management:

We asked Brian, a “True Texan” how he managed the impression he gives off to people through his Texan accent. The only time that Brian hides his accent is in business situations. He says this is because most people assume once they hear him speak, that he is of a lower class and intelligence level. However, he emphasizes it in situations that involve manual labor, because he assumed to be more of an expertise in this area. It seems that Brian emphasizes his accent the most when in emotionally charged situations. He says this is because he is the most familiar and most comfortable speaking this way, so in moments where he is unguarded it becomes more prevalent. We can see from these examples that Brian’s use of his accent most usually signifies back stage behavior. When he is in situations where he wishes to be respected for his intelligence, he drops it which signifies that it is front stage behavior.

On what the accent conveys about the culture:

Brian did feel that people were a little more respectful in their language towards the elderly and that strangers were friendlier to each other. However, he clarified that this is a trait common among southern states in general, not just among Texans. There seems to be much more extensive openings in the region in that people are not apt to quickly transition to the purpose of the conversation. They often spend a greater amount of time in the introduction to the conversation. Brian had recently visited Florida. In fact, when questioned about the similarities between Texans and Floridians, he states that they were equally friendly. It seems that the major difference between Florida and Texas is the cultural tie people here feel for each other and their state. In fact, the pride people feel for their state here is one of the most prominent features found in the culture here.

On what the culture conveys about the people:

It seemed to me that overall, Brian feels that Texans are a more hardworking and driven people who often look to help others. The common stereotype is that Texans think slowly, are more friendly, and simple. After further discussion about his personal experience with running farms, it seems that most of the well-known traits of Texans are a result of the common ancestry tradition of farming and cattle ranching. This occupation placed a great emphasis on outdoors work that required the help of many people. It seems that the occupation influenced the personalities of the people here, which have carried on through the generations. In this way, the accent is perceived as a prop for the script of farmers and cattle ranchers.

Conclusion

Overall, after talking to a native Texan, it seems that he did agree with the perception of Texans as being lower class and intelligence. He agreed that Texans had higher levels of friendliness in comparison to northern states. And although he did not immediately trace his accent to a sense of pride, he did state that he felt like more of a Texan when he spoke with an accent and then later related Texans to having numerous admirable traits. Conclusively he then related his accent to a sense of pride for the state.

Amanda from Diboll, Texas

Amanda is a girl who comes from a place that she calls “Deep East Texas”. She says that everyone from her home town speaks the same way she does, with a heavy Texan timbre. I asked Amanda what kind of first impression her accent made people have of her; she responded, saying that it made people “tend to perceive [her] intelligence as lower than theirs”. This contributes to our claim that to have a Texan accent is to be associated to a group that is of lower intelligence.

However, when asked if she would ever hide or emphasize her accent based on the people she was with, Amanda said that she would not do either; she claimed that there was no point for her to try to cover up her accent because it “can never be hidden completely” so people will still make comments on it asking where she is from or what kind of horse she rides. Her willingness to carry her sound as part of herself, regardless of the people she is coming into contact with indicates a certain level of pride in her heritage. In addition to this, Amanda said that she feels a certain connection to people who have an accent that is similar to hers. The pride and camaraderie that Amanda feels in relation to her accent is important because one of the latent functions of language and pronunciation is to bring people together due to commonality.

Amanda views her accent as a mode of self-expression. She does not attempt to make her heritage a backstage secret about herself but instead displays her variation on the script on the front stage for everyone to hear. As mentioned before, this up-front show of association to a particular region automatically places Amanda in association with the stereotypes that are inherent to the region. She has recognized that her accent may give off an unintended message of ignorance, yet she does not experience nay role conflict between her college student self and her East Texan self because she is open to answering the questions of strangers about the horses they think she has or the tractors she must ride.

Shannon from Paris, Texas

Paris, Texas is a small city located a couple of hours northeast of Dallas which, according to our interview subject, Shannon consists of people who have rural mentalities and strong rural accents. Shannon feels personally indifferent toward her Texan roots, claiming that she actively concentrates on striving toward a standard American accent and that she would only accentuate her accent during humorous accounts of Paris, Texas. She feels that having a strong Texan accent makes people think she is not as smart as she actually is, which is part of her reasoning for trying to deemphasize her Texas sound. However, Shannon said she neither felt pride nor shame about her Texan heritage. This does not support our claim that Texans are noted for their state pride.

Growing up in Texas, Shannon says that she was taught as a youngster to be respectful to adults. Specific terms of respect include the standard "Mister", "Misses", and "Miss" as well as "Ma'am" and "Sir"; these tools could be considered a "script" for younger people in the south. She said she always used these when addressing an authority figure with whom she wasn't very familiar. When asked if she was ever scolded for not using these, she responded that she didn't but that she knew of other households that more strictly enforced this teaching. Shannon even reported that she felt comfortable addressing an elder using only their first name if she had a very close relationship with them. Shannon's responses support our claim that people who a noticeably from Texas via their accent are associated with being polite since she herself learned at an early age the supposed importance of honoring elders.

What all of this equates to is that Shannon manages her impression on others by striving for what she called a "standard American accent". She knows that people may misunderstand the messages given off by her accent and, whether consciously or unconsciously, she alters her sociological script so that she is not asscoiated with the impression of ignorance, poverty, slow movement, and a "hick" attitude.

Mission Statement

After learning about Goffman’s theories of impression management and Charles Horton Cooley’s idea of the “looking-glass self”, we thought it would be really interesting to study the way a person’s manner of speech, or accent, factors into the way they view themselves and the way those around them view their presentation of self. Speech is one of the most identifiable characteristics of a person and often is a determining factor of a person’s first impression. Since we live in Texas we thought it might be best to narrow our study to focus on people who speak with strong Texan sounds. In order to see how Texans view their own accents in comparison to how people from outside of Texas perceive the southern twang, we will be conducting short interviews with students who are from Texas and also with students who are from different states and countries. We will be focusing on the messages given and given off by the accent and how that relates to the pervading stereotypes about southerners; we are expecting to find that a Texan accent conveys to the listener a message of lower intelligence, lower class level, higher measures of friendliness, as well as increased state pride – though as with any study, our hypotheses are subject to being proven wrong! You can expect to see detailed analyses of what we find through our study, how our interview subject's responses correspond to sociological theories of impression management, and what this tells us about the culture of Texas.