Effects of name mispronunciation on students’ relationship to education

The purpose of this thesis is to explore occurrences of name mispronunciation, its effects on individuals, and potential remedies to harm incurred. This is accomplished in two parts. First, existing literature on name mispronunciation, experiences of multilinguals, and translanguaging is explored in a literature review, which is exclusively focused on those occurrences and experiences in classroom settings within the educational system. Second, collected survey data is explored, focusing on given names, to determine clearer connections between name mispronunciation, prevalence, relationship to name, and relationship to education.

Information gleaned through the literature review and survey data was analyzed to determine the answers to three main research questions: 1. Do individuals remember when their names are mispronounced, and do these occurrences have a lasting effect? 2. Does name mispronunciation hurt individuals’ relationship to education? 3. What methods of name learning and mispronunciation correction cause the least harm to individuals and shift the onus of pronunciation away from students? From this analysis, it was determined that incidents of name mispronunciation are highly memorable, and respondents were able to recall aspects of them very clearly. Additionally, some respondents reported that having their names mispronounced hurt their relationship both with their teacher and with their educational experience, and with their name as a feature of their identity, although these findings were inconclusive, as many respondents also reported that the mispronunciation did not cause harm. Finally, by analyzing the differences in the occurrences of name mispronunciations between respondents who did or did not report harm and based upon research on translanguaging explored in the literature review, an approach to names for educators that is rooted in translanguaging pedagogy was recommended as causing the least harm.