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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Student Perceptions of the Acceptance of
Communication Diverseness
Barbara D. Davis
To cite this article: Barbara D. Davis (2006) Student Perceptions of the Acceptance of
Communication Diverseness, Journal of Education for Business, 82:2, 67-73, DOI: 10.3200/
JOEB.82.2.67-73
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.82.2.67-73

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

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Student Perceptions of the Acceptance of
Communication Diverseness
BARBARA D. DAVIS
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

ABSTRACT. Transacting business with
individuals who may speak English fluently
but have an accent is common today. Use of
translation services such as in transportation
facilities, government offices, educational

institutions, and manufacturers’ instruction
manuals is on the increase. Consequently,
linguistic diversity issues require relevant
academic discussion and attention. In this
article, the author examines university students’ perceptions of the acceptance of communication diverseness and provides comparisons of the data on demographic factors
such as age, gender, and ethnicity. Analyzing the results provides insight into the
nature of particular groups to be inclusive or
exclusive on the basis of speech diversity
components.
Key words: communication, culture, diversity, language
Copyright © 2006 Heldref Publications

C

ommunication, both oral and
written, is fraught with variety.
Students are encouraged to add variety
to their sentence structure in writing
and to use their voice tones to punctuate and accentuate in speaking situations. These variations in writing and
speaking make the information being

communicated more interesting and
appealing (Lehman & Dufrene, 2002;
Lesikar & Flatley, 2005)
Extending the principle that variety in
communication is desirable would logically lead to a conclusion that language,
which is composed of communication
speech patterns (style of speaking),
accent, and dialect, would embrace
diverseness. However, the degree to
which linguistic diversity is recognized
and acknowledged continues to be a
current, debatable topic (Barrera, 1995).
The previous melting pot concept has
been replaced by a preference for the
tossed salad model. A premise of this
tossed salad principle is that retention
of unique cultural characteristics and
language is one of the most dominant
cultural markers, which members of
groups retain for individuality (Plasseraud, 1993). This linguistic discussion is

gaining momentum as demographers
document the increased shift in population of immigrants and minorities, and
many in these growing populations are
choosing to retain and emphasize their
linguistic diverseness (Romano, 1995).

I examined how student perceptions of
selected linguistic characteristics are
affected by demographic factors such as
age, gender, and ethnicity. The results
could be useful in the context of international, intercultural, and multicultural
activities. An examination of the aspects
of communication diverseness may provide discussants of language issues with
more insight into the ongoing debate.
Review of Literature
Many educators are ill–equipped in
ability or resources to address or assess
the needs of their multilingual students
(Bradford, Bloch, & Starks, 1999;
“English teachers not ready,” 2000;

Francis, Kelly, & Bell, 1994; Kubota,
2001; Quisenberry, 1993; Reising,
1997). Because classrooms mirror the
larger society, preferences for communication characteristics that reflect the
current, dominant societal trends tend to
surface. This preference, at one point,
was manifest in the workforce and political arenas by a push for English-only
policies (Brady, 1996; Fletcher, 1998;
Higley, 1997; McBee, 1986; Nunberg,
1997; Richards, 1993; Solomon, 1996)
and what Tabbert (1994) termed language standardization. Today’s work
environment is more open to communication diversity.
Companies taking advantage of
expanding business opportunities to
globalize, to develop joint–venture relaNovember/December 2006

67

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tionships, and to form multinational
corporations are simultaneously challenged with addressing employee attitudes related to cultural suppositions
(Domke–Damonte, 2001; Ryan, Chan,
Ployhart, & Slade, 1999). The foundation of cross–cultural opportunities rests
on the ability of organizations to operate
effectively within diverse cultures.
What constitutes a diverse culture is too
often associated with only the most
common factors of age, gender, and ethnicity. However, the language component with its importance and relevance
to a people’s cultural identity is often
discounted or overlooked (Barrera,
1995; Davis, 2002; Tabbert, 1994).
Communication differences may ultimately restrict the organization’s
progress toward diversity goals (Kubota, 2001; Solomon, 1996). If the language dilemma were viewed from the
perspective of the 80/20 rule suggesting
that the greatest results are generated by
the smallest percent of contributors and
conversely that the greatest percent of
contributors produce the smallest
results, its effect on diversity issues

might be more discerning. For example,
most of the world’s population speaks
only one of the eight common languages (Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, and
French). The literature indicates that the
majority of the linguistic diversity is
manifest in a small percent of the
world’s population (Russell, 1992;
“Winners and Losers,” 2002). Further,
Byfield (2001) reports “ninety percent
of all languages have fewer than
100,000 speakers” (p. 40). Bilingual or
multilingual senior level managers also
are rare.
This realization might be unsettling
to companies striving for the competitive edge in a global environment. Companies with business executives who
relish the position of English as the
international language or who hesitate
to proactively prepare for a multilingual
work environment may find themselves
disadvantaged and in the minority

(Bradford, Bloch, & Starks, 1999;
“European Year of Language,” 2001;
Ostler, 2000). In addition, the growing
trend of immigrants and minorities
retaining their language heritage warrants special consideration from organi68

Journal of Education for Business

zations and business executives (Nunberg, 1997; Plasseraud, 1993). Because
there are over 6,000 languages spoken
by the world’s population, the previous
comfort zone for the English language
is being challenged (Bloom, 2002;
“European Year of Language”; Gibbs,
2002; Ostler; Raloff, 1995; “Winners
and Losers,” 2002).
With so many different languages
comes a plethora of other characteristics
including variations in speech patterns,
accent, and dialect. These variations are

expected when researchers report estimates on the number of English speakers with figures such as 700 million,
1,800 million, or up to approximately 2
billion (Kubota, 2001; Macfarlane,
2002). Logically, as the research also
indicates, the ratio of non native speakers to native speakers has increased
across the world (Bradford, Bloch, &
Starks, 1999; Kubota; Ostler, 2000).
The boundaryless nature of the international community dictates the need for
further examination of linguistic issues.
Recent appeals from government agencies to increase national language and
cultural competence via higher education are now priority issues (Department
of Defense, 2005). Research identifying
stereotypes, preferences, legal ramifications, and behavior associated with language nuances indicates specific prevalent attitudes about the various aspects
of linguistic diversity (Davis, 2002;
Henderson, 2005; Wilkinson, 2004).
Businesspeople can improve their interpersonal skills if they are more aware of
the perceptual differences different
groups embody.
A close analysis of the literature provides insight into how age, gender, and
ethnicity affect attitudes about linguistic

diversity. The evidence sometimes
requires inference, but it exists. For
example, English-only policies are generally supported by European Americans while minority populations are
either neutral to or reject such proposals
(Haggerty, 1995; Higley, 1997). Generally, older immigrants retain their native
language while younger immigrants are
more bilingual or multilingual (Raloff,
1995). There are many instances of
immigrant parents who do not speak
English and rely upon their children to
bridge the language gap. Researchers

also report that personal, social, and
professional character traits are identified or stereotyped positively or negatively by the country’s various cultures
as determined by perceptions of other
culture’s language usage, communication speech patterns, accents, and
dialects (Anderson, 1996; Cargile &
Giles, 1997; Dobrow & Gidney, 1998;
Dominic & Hogg, 1987; Edwards &
Jacobsen, 1987; Gudykunst & Schmidt,

1987; Robinson, 1996; Tabbert, 1994;
Tsalikis, DeShields, & LaTour, 1991;
Tsalikis & Ortiz–Buonafina, 1992).
METHOD
I examined respondents’ perception
of the acceptance of language diverseness including communication speech
patterns, accent, and dialect on the basis
of selected demographic factors (i.e.,
age, gender, and culture).
I developed a 20-item survey instrument (see Appendix), using topics from
the literature, that addresses language,
speech and accent patterns, English-only
policies, and legal issues associated with
linguistic diversity (Davis, 2002; Tabbert, 1994; Tsalikis, et al., 1991; Tsalikis
& Ortiz–Buonafina, 1992), and administered the survey to business communication students in two Southern universities. The goal was to determine the
student perceptions of the acceptance of
language characteristics on the basis of
selected demographic factors. One of the
schools was located in a metropolitan
area whereas the other institution was in
a small, rural town. Students responded
using a Likert-type scale that ranged
from 1 (low) to 5 (high) indicating the
degree to which they held various perceptions of communication diverseness.
RESULTS
For statistical analysis, I used SPSS,
Version 10.0. The majority of the 250
respondents, as shown in Table 1, were
women, under age 25, and European
American.
Mean responses for the 250 respondents to each statement are shown in
Table 2. The majority of the respondents
(a) considered oral communication a
diversity component; (b) believed that
being bilingual was an advantage; (c)

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used language, speech, and accent patterns to help assess intelligence, competence, or professionalism; (d) interpreted such personal traits as friendliness,
helpfulness, and cheerfulness of the
speaker; (e) perceived that they detected
language, speech, and accent used
stereotypically in entertainment (e.g.,
movies, TV); (f) preferred to receive
information from people who spoke
their native language; and (g) believed
that listeners attach emotional associations to certain accents and messages.
I performed a series of analysis of
(ANOVA) to determine the influence of

gender, age, and culture on the responses. I applied Tukey’s post hoc test, where
appropriate, to determine between group
variances. Significant differences (p <
.05) existed between demographic factors on 4 of the 20 statements related to
gender and on 5 related to culture. Table
3 shows the ANOVA results. No significant differences existed among age
groups on the 20 statements.
DISCUSSION
Significant differences existed
between the demographic factors of

TABLE 1. Demographic Breakdown of Respondents
Characteristic
Gender
Women
Men
Age
< 25
25–39
40–54
≥ 55
Culture
African American
European American
Other (Asian, Hispanic, Native American)

n

%

138
112

55.2
44.8

198
50
2
0

79.2
20.0
0.8
0.0

88
137
23

35.2
54.8
9.2

gender and culture with the responses.
Four of the 20 statements showed a significant difference by gender. Mean
averages indicated that women were
more likely than were men to consider
oral communication (language, speech,
and accent) a diversity component (M =
3.93) and to think it was currently necessary to be bilingual (M = 3.29). Men
had higher mean averages for the statement that supported English-only policies in the workplace (M = 2.96), and
the statement that asked the degree to
which age can be determined by listening to language, speech, and accent patterns only (M = 2.58) than women,
which meant that they perceived these
as more likely than did women.
European American students showed
higher mean averages for 5 of the 20
responses compared with African Americans or other cultures (Asian, Hispanic,
or Native American). Further analysis of
between group differences indicated that
compared with African Americans,
European Americans showed greater
support of English-only policies in the
workplace (M = 2.46 and 2.92, respectively); rated northerners (M = 2.54 and
2.98, respectively) and southerners (M =
2.40 and 2.90, respectively) on their use
of standard dialect or English; and pre-

TABLE 2. Mean Averages for Respondents on Perceptions of Linguistic Factors
Statement (To what degree do you . . .)
consider oral communication (language, speech, or accent) a diversity component?
feel there is an acceptance of differences in oral communication?
believe being bilingual is an advantage?
believe being bilingual is a disadvantage?
think it is currently necessary to be bilingual?
listen to language, speech, or accent patterns to help assess honesty, credibility, or dependability?
listen to language, speech, or accent patterns to help assess intelligence, competence, or professionalism?
listen to language, speech, or accent patterns to help assess friendliness, helpfulness, and cheerfulness?
support English-only policies in the workplace?
rate northerners on standard dialect or English?
rate southerners on standard dialect or English?
detect stereotypical usage of language, speech, or accents in entertainment (e.g., movies, TV)?
detect stereotypical usage of language, speech, or accent in newspapers, books, and other written material?
prefer to receive information from salespeople, teachers, and others who speak your native language?
believe age can be determined by listening to only language, speech, or accent patterns?
believe ethnicity can be determined by listening to only language, speech, or accent patterns?
believe a person’s accent has an impact on receptiveness when interacting with someone of another culture?
believe listeners attach emotional associations with certain accents and messages?
perceive a standard dialect, standard English, and a nonaccent determine receptiveness?
believe a nonstandard dialect, nonstandard English, and an accent are viewed negatively?

M

SD

3.79
3.35
4.45
1.44
3.13
3.42
3.76
3.77
2.73
2.81
2.69
3.66
3.21
3.82
2.40
2.90
3.32
3.55
2.97
2.97

0.87
0.95
0.91
0.90
1.14
1.15
1.08
1.05
1.28
1.15
1.09
1.08
1.10
1.24
1.13
1.14
2.14
0.99
0.93
1.05

Note. Responses were based on 5-point scales (1 = low, 5 = high).

November/December 2006

69

TABLE 3. Results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for Demographic Factors and Responses
Gender
F
p

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Statement (To what degree do you . . .)
consider oral communication (language, speech, or accent) a diversity component?
feel there is an acceptance of differences in oral communication?
believe being bilingual is an advantage?
believe being bilingual is a disadvantage?
think it is currently necessary to be bilingual?
listen to language, speech, or accent patterns to help assess honesty, credibility, or
dependability?
listen to language, speech, or accent patterns to help assess intelligence, competence,
or professionalism?
listen to language, speech, or accent patterns to help assess friendliness, helpfulness,
and cheerfulness?
support English-only policies in the workplace?
rate northerners on standard dialect or English?
rate southerners on standard dialect or English?
detect stereotypical usage of language, speech, or accents in entertainment
(e.g., movies, TV)?
detect stereotypical usage of language, speech, or accent in newspapers, books,
and other written material?
prefer to receive information from salespeople, teachers, and others who speak your
native language?
believe age can be determined by listening to only language, speech, or accent patterns?
believe ethnicity can be determined by listening to only language, speech, or accent
patterns?
believe accent has an impact on receptiveness when interacting with someone of
another culture?
believe listeners attach emotional associations with certain accents and messages?
perceive a standard dialect, standard English, and a nonaccent determine receptiveness?
believe a nonstandard dialect, non-standard English, and an accent are viewed
negatively?

Age
F

p

Culture
F
p

7.84
.08
.01
1.35
6.41

.01*
.78
.93
.25
.01*

.12
1.72
2.86
1.61
1.14

.89
.18
.06
.20
.32

1.59
2.43
2.41
.76
2.21

.21
.09
.09
.47
.11

3.77

.05

.91

.41

.02

.98

.01

.93

.09

.92

1.93

.15

2.69
6.13
.04
1.06

.10
.01*
.85
.30

1.07
1.93
.31
.23

.35
.15
.73
.80

2.66
3.52
4.20
6.17

.07
.03*
.02*
.00*

.34

.56

2.61

.08

.69

.51

.18

.67

.48

.62

2.82

.06

.02
5.13

.88
.02*

1.03
.28

.36
.76

4.54
1.09

.01*
.34

3.94

.05

1.10

.34

3.28

.04*

.69
.09
.49

.41
.76
.48

.42
.93
1.23

.66
.40
.30

.52
2.41
.48

.60
.09
.62

.00

.99

.79

.45

.06

.95

*p = .05.

ferred to receive information from sales
associates, teachers, and others who
spoke their native language (M = 3.61
and 4.01, respectively).
Only the statement that respondents
preferred to receive information from
sales associates, teachers, or others who
spoke their native language showed a
higher mean average for European
Americans than it did for people from
other cultures (M = 4.01 and 3.35,
respectively). Although no two groups
differed significantly at the p < .05 level,
respondents who believed ethnicity
could be determined solely by listening
to language, speech, and accent patterns
only showed significant difference by
culture.
No significant difference existed
between the responses and the demographic factor age. However, mean
averages were higher for respondents 40
to 54 years of age than they were for
those under 25 or 25 to 29 years of age
70

Journal of Education for Business

who thought there was an acceptance of
differences in oral communication (M =
4.00); listened to language, speech, and
accent patterns to help assess honesty,
credibility, or dependability (M = 4.5);
intelligence, competence, or professionalism (M = 4.00); friendliness, helpfulness, and cheerfulness (M = 4.00); supported English-only policies in the
workplace (M = 4.50); preferred to
receive information from sales associates, teachers, and others who spoke
their native language (M = 5.00);
believed ethnicity could be determined
by listening only to language, speech,
and accent patterns (M = 4.00); believed
that a person’s accent determined receptiveness when interacting with someone
of another culture (M = 4.50); believed
listeners attach emotional associations
with certain accents and messages (M =
4.50); and perceived a standard dialect,
standard English, and a nonaccent
determined receptiveness (M = 4.00).

Respondents 25 to 39 years of age (M =
4.54) believed more so than did respondents under 25 or 40 to 54 years of age
that being bilingual is an advantage. All
respondents completing the survey were
below age 55.
Conclusions
The results of this survey indicate the
degree to which university students perceive the influence of selected demographic factors such as age, gender, and
culture on the acceptance of communication diverseness. Gender (20%) and
culture (25%) were the demographic
factors having the most influence.
Women were more likely than men to
consider oral communication a diversity
component and believed it currently
necessary to be bilingual. Men and
European Americans, more than did
women and people with other cultures,
supported English-only policies in the

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workplace. European Americans, more
than African Americans or other cultures, preferred to receive information
from sales associates, teachers, and others who spoke their native language.
Whereas the mean average for all
respondents indicated that oral communication was considered a diversity
component and being bilingual was an
advantage, the literature raises questions about these perceptions. For example, past researchers attempted to adopt
English-only policies in the workplace
(Brady, 1996; Fletcher, 1998; Robinson,
1996; Solomon, 1996) reporting stereotypical associations to nonstandard
English, accents, or dialects.
Respondents’ agreement that they listen to language, speech, and accent patterns to help assess intelligence, competence, professionalism, friendliness,
helpfulness, and cheerfulness, and that
they prefer to receive information from
sales associates, teachers, and others
who speak their native language is consistent with previous findings.
Implications and Recommendations
Information in this study can help
educators identify and assess the
degree to which communication
diverseness is acknowledged and
accepted in their environments. There
is also a clear inference to include and
increase attention to this component in
the curriculum, especially because of
international business considerations.
Another equally important rationale
for emphasis on communication
diverseness is its projected impact on
persuasive communication techniques,
business etiquette, listening effectiveness, nonverbal communication, business presentations, and interviewing or
employment strategies.
Getting the attention of an individual
of another ethnic group or convincing
older employees to change their work
behavior will often require students to
be cognizant of perceptual differences
when they exist in a situation. It is the
responsibility of educators to integrate
some of these instances into situational
examples in lectures or into case studies
in homework.
In addition, the demographic factors
of age, gender, and ethnicity should

serve as an initial basis for developing
curricula and creating programs to
address diverse communication issues
because they provide significant insight
into attitudes about interpersonal and
intercultural interactions. Communication issues will inevitably become a
major concern as world businesses
evolve. Therefore, educators should
take a proactive role in making sure students are adequately prepared to function effectively in a multilingual environment. Hence, further research on
issues of communication diverseness is
necessary.
NOTE
Correspondence concerning this article should
be addressed to Dr. Barbara D. Davis, Management Department Room 328, Fogelman College
of Business and Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152.
E–mail: bddavis@memphis.edu
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Courier, 20.

APPENDIX

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Perceptions of Oral Communication as a Diversity Component
Directions: On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest rating, indicate your perceptions pertaining to oral communication
(language, speech, accent) and diversity.

To what degree (1 = low, 5 = high) do you:
1. consider oral communication (language, speech, accent)
a diversity component?
1 2 3 4 5

13. detect language, speech, accent used stereotypically in
newspapers, books, etc.?
1 2 3 4 5

2. feel there is an acceptance of differences in oral communication?
1 2 3 4 5

14. prefer to receive information from sales associates, teachers, etc. who speak your native language?
1 2 3 4 5
15. believe age can be determined by listening to language,
speech, accent patterns only?
1 2 3 4 5

3. believe being bilingual is an advantage?
1 2 3 4 5
4. believe being monolingual is a disadvantage?
1 2 3 4 5
5. think it is currently necessary to be bilingual?
1 2 3 4 5
6. listen to language, speech, accent patterns to help assess
honesty, credibility, or dependability?
1 2 3 4 5
7. listen to language, speech, accent patterns to help assess
intelligence, competence, or professionalism?
1 2 3 4 5
8. listen to language, speech, accent patterns to help assess
friendliness, helpfulness, and cheerfulness?
1 2 3 4 5
9. support English-only policies in the workplace?
1 2 3 4 5
10. rate northerners on standard dialect or English?
1 2 3 4 5
11. rate southerners on standard dialect or English?
1 2 3 4 5
12. detect language, speech, accent used stereotypically in
entertainment (movies/TV, etc.)?
1 2 3 4 5

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Journal of Education for Business

16. believe ethnicity can be determined by listening to language/speech/accent patterns only?
1 2 3 4 5
17. believe that people’s accents have an effect on their
receptiveness when interacting with someone of another
culture?
1 2 3 4 5
18. believe listeners attach emotional associations with certain accents and messages?
1 2 3 4 5
19. perceive a standard dialect, standard English, and a
nonaccent determine receptiveness?
1 2 3 4 5
20. believe a nonstandard dialect, nonstandard English, and
an accent are viewed negatively?
1 2 3 4 5
Directions: Please place a checkmark by the appropriate item
for each question.
21. How often to you have contact with people whose native
language is NOT English?
____Regularly
____Occasionally

____Seldom
____Never

22. What aspect of a speaker’s voice influences you the
most? (Choose only one)
____speed ____intonation ____accent
_____grammar ____pronunciation
_______________other (please specify)

___25–39
____55 or above

25. Culture:____African American or Black ____Asian
_____European American or White ____Hispanic
_____Native American ___Other (please specify)

_____Male

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23. Gender: ____Female

24. Age: ____Under 25
____40–54

November/December 2006

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