Matched-guise Test - Procedure

Procedure

• i) the variables of ‘sex’; ‘age’; ‘L1’, ‘variety used in domestic relationships’, etc. of the ‘judges’ evaluating the recorded ‘voices’ are taken into consideration;
• ii) the variables of ‘sex’, ‘age’, ‘voice’ and ‘linguistic variety’ of the individuals recorded are taken into consideration.
• iii) the stimulus material spoken in the linguistic variety that is recorded is studied from a strictly linguistic approach (phonetic, morphological, syntactic and lexical aspects) and from a stylistic point of view (formal, informal register...).
• iv) the interviewees have no information about the ‘voices’; that is, they do not know that the ‘voices’ speaking at least two different linguistic varieties are the same person and that these are guises; this is where the technique gets its name: matched guise.
• v) there is total control over the variable ‘voice’, with the removal of all features of speed, volume, timbre, tone, etc. Nonetheless, the importance of this technique lies in manipulating the linguistic features of the oral stimulus material, rather than in manipulating the recorded voices.
• vi) the length of the oral stimulus material recording is two minutes;
• vii) the ‘judges’ or interviewees are asked to evaluate the personal qualities of the recorded individuals on the basis of their ‘voices’, as if they were evaluating the ‘voice’ of somebody they did not know during a telephone conversation.
• viii) a questionnaire allows the personality traits of the ‘voices’ evaluated to be attributed to the ‘voices’ (intelligence; leadership; physical attractiveness; social status, unpleasantness...).

Lambert himself (1967) notes that the interviewees usually enjoy taking part in this test because they regard it as a game. Most language attitude studies that have used the matched guise technique have been conducted at schools or colleges.