Research Symposium

BIO

Hello! As a Tallahassee native, finding ways to serve and improve my community has always been a goal of mine. When I discovered the CSD major and learned that researchers such as Dr. Johnson have devoted significant time and resources to pursuing the same goal, I knew I had found my place. Under her guidance, I was able to develop an HITM project that allows me to explore a niche area within our field—specifically, the role of SLPs within courtrooms. Through this project, I am researching ways to better serve populations that have historically been overlooked at crucial moments in their lives, such as when they serve as witnesses in court cases. I hope to continue researching this area while pursuing a master’s degree and throughout my future career.

Perceptual Bias in the Courtroom: How Dialect can Shape Interpretations of Witness’ Testimony

Abstract

It is often the case that language and communication disorders can be found more prominently in persons in the juvenile justice system than in the overall population. There are several factors that could cause this effect, such as the school-to-prison pipeline. When looking further into prison populations, addressing the over-representation of African American students within this demographic leads to increasing concerns over their ability to have their testimony shared to an unbiased courtroom. Within the courtroom itself, there are several studies that have linked the use of African American English (AAE) to altered perceptions of individuals within the courtroom, such as court reporters and jurors. The repercussions of this can go as far as to change the actual testimony of the witness. To have a testimony deemed as "unintelligible" simply due to the use of dialect in the courtroom raises concerns for Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs), as this is a field that has extensive knowledge on dialect and linguistic diversity. There are opportunities for SLPs to serve as Expert Witnesses in situations like these, providing an unbiased opportunity to share witnesses testimonies to a courtroom, and ensure that linguistic discrimination does not occur. In order to ensure that SLPs are being adequately prepared in this situation, my project seeks to examine the perceptions of undergraduate students in SLP programs, to measure their perceived credibility of individuals that use AAE and General American English (GAE).

Keywords: AAE, Dialect, Courtroom