STEREOTYPED ACCENT OF STUDENTS FROM SOUGUEUR AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH IBN KHALDOUN UNIVERSITY-TIARET

Abstract

The present work examines stereotyped accent among students of different regions ,of Tiaret at the Department of English University of Ibn Khaldoun . The study attempts to focus on the connection between accents , stereotypes, prejudices , attitudes , and linguistic discrimination . The research aims at identifying the sociolinguistic reasons behind the stereotyped accent of English in the suburbs of Tiaret ,particulary Sougueur , in order to measure the acceptability of this accent , and to investigate whether students consider their stereotyped accent as a linguistic enrichment or insecurity .The data were collected using different approaches : Qualitative and Quantitative, realized by means of a census questionnaire administered to both student and teachers . Data collection helps us a lot in understanding the reason behind stereotyping students’ speech , and the reaction to such linguistic phenomenon .The findings show that student from Sougueur are linguistically disciminated by others in terms of their accent , but they think of it as a linguistic enrichment rather than insecuirty .As for teachers , they consider regional accent’ inteference in speaking English as a learning error .