MA Haotong Zhao
My name is pronounced /xaû̯.tʰʊ̌ŋ t͡ʃaû̯/. I am a PhD student at the University of Bern with research interests in sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics. I am particularly interested in how phonetic variation is processed and interpreted, as well as the social consequences such variation can have for communication. My research primarily uses experiments and statistical modelling to explore these questions from a quantitative perspective.
In my current project, I will investigate how various German accents influence perceived credibility in courtroom settings in Switzerland and what underlying cognitive mechanisms contribute to this effect, with the aim of identifying implications for fairness in legal decision-making.
Title
Social consequences of accents: Inferred credibility in the courtroom
