Ohio State study shows people can control accent adoption

A Ohio State University study published in Laboratory Phonology found that 136 American English speakers could deliberately adopt or suppress an Australian accent when instructed. Participants listened to recordings of a college‑educated white Australian woman from Perth and were asked to imitate, avoid imitating, or simply repeat the speech.

Results showed high control, with awareness of specific features such as vowel pronunciation in “bath” and “trap” guiding imitation. Lead author Kathryn Campbell‑Kibler noted that socially meaningful accent features can interfere, and without explicit instructions participants only copied isolated features like dropping the “r” in “near” before ceasing imitation when expectations mismatched the speaker’s vowel patterns.

Editor's note: Captures the core findings and details of the Ohio State study effectively.