Dialects of English spoken in rural, Southern Appalachia are heavily stigmatized in mainstream American culture, and speakers of Appalachian dialects are often subject to prejudice and stereotypes which can be detrimental in educational settings. We explored the experiences of rural, Southern Appalachian college students and the role speaking a…

The dialects that college students speak represent a type of diversity that can influence many elements of their experiences in college, including academic experiences. In this study, we examined the influence of speaking a stigmatized dialect on academic experiences for White and African American students (both male and female) from rural…