Name Pronunciation¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 2 studies (2 causal), q3 · 0 of 2 report an effect size

Description¶

Pronouncing learners' names correctly is a low-cost, high-signal practice that builds trust and rapport from the first interaction. Mispronunciation — or repeated failure to attempt it — can produce feelings of anxiety, invisibility, shame, and resentment that contribute to social and educational disengagement Names carry identity and mispronunciation is experienced as a microaggression that marginalizes students of color. [+M]. The strategy is to elicit each learner's preferred name and pronunciation early, record it, and practice it until correct.

Design Implications¶

Getting names right is a concrete enactment of belonging: it signals that the learner is seen as an individual, which is a precondition for engagement and persistence Brief belonging-focused practices improve outcomes for at-risk students. [+S]. The instructor's effort matters as much as accuracy — a visible good-faith attempt followed by correction is received very differently from casual or repeated mispronunciation.

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Elicit each learner's preferred name and pronunciation directly (never assume from spelling), ideally in a Check-In or first-week survey
• A system for recording pronunciations (roster notes, phonetic spellings, audio recordings, or tools such as NameCoach)
• Willingness to be corrected publicly and to self-correct without defensiveness

Constraints¶

• Some languages contain phonemes absent from the instructor's phonological inventory, making accurate pronunciation genuinely difficult; the effort itself, not perfection, carries the relational signal
• Repeated mispronunciation after correction damages rapport more than an honest first error [-M]
• In very large classes, individual mastery is impractical; substitutes (name tents, self-introduction norms, peer name use) partially but incompletely replace it [~W]

Implementation Variability¶

• First-day introductions with learners pronouncing their own names for the class
• Phonetic annotations on rosters or LMS name fields; audio name recordings (e.g., NameCoach in Canvas)
• Learner-chosen "name in use" (nickname, anglicized form) — but only when chosen by the learner, never imposed

Target Learners¶

• All learners, but especially those whose names are uncommon in the instructional context — multilingual learners, international students, and students of color, who report disproportionate rates of name-based microaggression Names carry identity and mispronunciation is experienced as a microaggression that marginalizes students of color. [+M]
• Learners at risk of disengagement, for whom belonging cues are most consequential Brief belonging-focused practices improve outcomes for at-risk students. [+S]

Target Learning Goals¶

• Affective and climate goals: trust, rapport, psychological safety
• Social-emotional learning: identity affirmation and respect for difference
• Prerequisite conditions for participation-oriented goals such as Class Discussion and collaborative work

Instructions¶

1. During the first session or via a pre-course survey, ask each learner to state their name as they say it, and note a phonetic rendering.
2. Practice each name aloud before the next meeting; use spaced self-testing (retrieval practice on names) rather than rereading the roster.
3. When you err, correct immediately, apologize briefly, and move on — do not ask the learner to accept a shortened or anglicized version for your convenience.
4. Normalize correction: tell learners explicitly that you want to be corrected and will not be offended.
5. Use names consistently in Check-Ins, feedback, and discussion to consolidate recall.

Related Strategies¶

• Check-In — a natural recurring context for eliciting and rehearsing name pronunciation
• Belonging interventions — name pronunciation is a concrete, everyday component of the broader belonging framing

Examples¶

• NameCoach (https://www.namecoach.com) — learners record their own name audio; recordings appear in the LMS roster so instructors and peers can hear correct pronunciation before class.
• First-week name tents — a common practice in K-12 and large university courses: learners write their name (with phonetic hint) on a folded card, giving the instructor a visible prompt while learning.
• Kohli & Solórzano's teacher-education cases — documented examples of teachers anglicizing students' names ("Angel" → "Angel-uh" for Ángel) and the resulting disengagement, used in teacher preparation to build awareness.

Key Sources¶

• Kohli, R., & Solórzano, D. G. (2012). Teachers, please learn our names!: Racial microagressions and the K-12 classroom. Race Ethnicity and Education, 15(4), 441–462. doi:10.1080/13613324.2012.674026
• Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2011). A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science, 331(6023), 1447–1451. doi:10.1126/science.1198364
• Laham, S. M., King, B. M., & Butts, J. L. (2012). The name-pronunciation effect: Why people like Mr. Smith more than Mr. Colquhoun. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(3), 752–756. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.12.002