scholarly journals Asymmetrische Plurizentrizität und Sprachbewusstsein / Asymmetric Pluricentricity and Language Awareness: The Swiss Germans' Attitudes towards Standard German

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Scharloth
Keyword(s):  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Subjective Evaluation ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
Language Community ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Community Influences ◽  
Evaluation Test ◽  
German Speaking

AbstractThe paper examines the language attitudes in non-dominating language communities of pluricentric languages. It asks in what way the fact of being a speaker of a non-dominating language community influences the perception of the own competence and of the evaluation of the different standard varieties of the pluricentric language. By examining the attitudes towards Swiss Standard German in German-speaking Switzerland it argues that speakers of non-dominating language communities often have the notion that their own standard variety being deficient combined with a feeling of lingual inferiority towards the speakers of the dominating community. Thus, the standard variety of the dominating community serves as a prestigious variety. In Switzerland these attitudes strongly correlate with the age of the acquisition of Standard German and the negative attitudes towards Germans. Finally the paper raises the question whether the concept of pluricentricity can adequately be used when there ist no awareness of pluricentricity among the speakers. The data presented derives from two empirical studies conducted in Switzerland in the summer of 2003: a survey on language attitudes and a subjective evaluation test.

scholarly journals Sprachgebrauch und Spracheinstellungen in der Deutschschweiz. Pfarrpersonen als sprachbewusste Sprecherinnen und Sprecher im Fokus

2017 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Oberholzer
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Swiss German ◽  
German Dialects ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Real Language ◽  
High Degree

The relation between Swiss German dialects and Standard German has been subject to public and scholarly debates for over 100 years. Among the most frequently discussed points are the appropriateness of spoken Standard German in different contexts and the attitudes of Swiss people towards the two varieties. This paper summarises the results of a completed research project (Oberholzer in Vorb.), which surveyed language use and language attitudes in Swit-zerland for a specific group of speakers: pastors and priests working in German-speaking Switzerland. The paper shows how pastors and priests make use of the diglossic situation and the possibility to code-switch in Sunday services. The use of Standard German emerges as an important communicative resource in German-speaking Switzerland. In addition, real language use and intended language use match to a high degree; this shows the degree of language awareness of this particular group in a diglossic situation. Furthermore, a relatively new approach – the assumption that several mental models of High German coexist – helps to show differentiated language attitudes and to contradict some of the most common stereotypes regarding Standard German in German-speaking Switzerland. The attitudes towards Standard German in this study are significantly more positive than those observed in previous studies.

scholarly journals Attitudes of South Tyrolean University Students towards German Varieties

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Mara Maya Victoria Leonardi
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
German Language ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
South Tyrol ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
German Standard ◽  
The Subject ◽  
University Teacher Training

This paper examines language attitudes of South Tyroleans towards German varieties used in educational institutions by means of a questionnaire survey with 55 university students. The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into subjects’ attitudes towards their own and other German (standard) varieties, with a focus on the sociolinguistic situation in South Tyrol (northern Italy). Previous studies have shown that the German-speaking community often have the notion that their own standard variety is deficient combined with a feeling of linguistic inferiority towards German speakers from Germany. Therefore, this article seeks to answer the following research questions: Which attitudes do South Tyrolean university students have towards the different German (standard) varieties? Do university teacher-training students get in touch with the concept of the pluricentric variation within the German standard variety during their education? Results reveal that despite a certain awareness of the issue of linguistic variation in the German language, the standard variety used in Germany still enjoys high prestige among our subjects compared to other German standard varieties. Moreover, results show that the students were hardly confronted with the subject of the German standard variety used in South Tyrol or with the variation of the German language during their high school years. However, this changes as soon as they attend university.

Sexism and Attitudes Toward Gender-Neutral Language

2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oriane Sarrasin ◽  
Ute Gabriel ◽  
Pascal Gygax
Keyword(s):  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Sexist Language ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Sexist Beliefs ◽  
Neutral Language

We examined the relationships between three forms of sexism (modern, benevolent, and hostile) and two components of attitudes toward gender-neutral language (attitudes toward gender-related language reforms and recognition of sexist language) across different contexts. A questionnaire study (N = 446) was conducted among students in the United Kingdom and in two (French- and German-speaking) regions of Switzerland. While we expected to find that all forms of sexism are generally related to negative attitudes toward gender-neutral language, we expected attitudes to be more positive and less related to sexist beliefs in a context in which gender-neutral language is firmly established (the UK) compared to contexts in which the use of gender-neutral language was introduced only recently (the German-speaking part of Switzerland) or is still seldom (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). We found that, across all contexts, modern and hostile sexist beliefs were indeed related to negative attitudes toward gender-related language reforms, while, intriguingly, benevolent sexist beliefs were related to positive attitudes in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Recognition of sexist language was significantly related to modern sexism only. Finally, British students were found to express more positive attitudes toward gender-neutral language (both components) than Swiss students.

scholarly journals Sprachnormbezogene Akkommodation in der Hochschullehre

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-62
Author(s):  
Philip C. Vergeiner
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Sociocultural Context ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Rule Analysis ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between accommodation processes and social norms in varietal choice within tertiary education in Austria. The investigation consists of (a) a content analysis of metalinguistic statements in semi-structured interviews and (b) a variable rule analysis of actual language variation in university lectures.The findings show that there are norms prescribing that listeners must have at least be able to comprehend a particular variety, whereas accommodation to actual language use does not appear to be required to the same extent. However, the norms depend strongly on group membership: while there is a norm prescribing the use of the standard variety in the presence of speakers of German as a foreign language, there is no such norm for Austrians vis-à-vis people from Germany, although speakers from both groups may lack the ability to understand the respective nonstandard varieties. This difference can be explained by the sociocultural context and differing language attitudes.

scholarly journals “It sounds like the language spoken by those living by the seaside” – language attitudes towards the local Italo-romance variety of Ghanaian immigrants in Bergamo

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (254) ◽  
pp. 103-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Guerini
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Local People ◽  
Immigrant Community ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Ghanaian Immigrants ◽  
Linguistic Repertoire ◽  
Discourse Strategies

Abstract In this article, I focus on the position of Bergamasco, the Italo-romance variety spoken in the Province of Bergamo (Northern Italy), in the linguistic repertoire of the local Ghanaian immigrant community. I argue that Ghanaian immigrants do not speak Bergamasco since the local people refrain from speaking Bergamasco to them. Bergamasco can be regarded as a we-code (Gumperz, John. 1982. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.) of the indigenous community, whereas Italian – in most cases, a simplified variety of standard Italian – is the default choice when communicating with immigrants. The lack of input in combination with negative attitudes and a lack of motivation to acquire the dialect triggers a self-reinforcing dynamic, making the incorporation of Bergamasco into the linguistic repertoire of Ghanaian immigrants unlikely. Excerpts from a sample of face-to-face interactions and semi-structured interviews involving a group of first-generation Ghanaian immigrants reveal that Bergamasco tends to be perceived as a sort of “secret language” deliberately used by local people to exclude immigrants and other outsiders. This stereotype originates from and is reinforced by lack of competence on the part of the migrants, but is devoid of any foundation.

scholarly journals Language loyalty and ethnolinguistic solidarity of members of the Slovak language community in Vojvodina

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 155-169
Author(s):  
Dalibor Sokolovic
Keyword(s):  
Initial Phase ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Language Community ◽  
Linguistic Description ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Slovak Language ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Important Constituent

This paper analyses the impact of linguistic loyalty and solidarity on the preservation of the Slovak language community in Vojvodina. These factors represent an essential element in the model of linguistic description of a language community in a minority position. In the first part of the paper, we present the structure and components of ethnolinguistic solidarity of the Slovak community in Vojvodina, and in the second we show results of the survey conducted in 2014 among members of the community related to the level of their linguistic loyalty. Language attitudes of members of the Slovak language community in Vojvodina presented in this analysis bring us new insight into the structure of ethnolinguistic solidarity and reveal the reasons and motivation of their linguistic loyalty, or the absence of it. Vojvodinian Slovaks consider their own language as the most important constituent of their ethnicity, but the survey nonetheless also identified characteristics of the initial phase of the process of language relativisation, as well as a reduction of its role as the cultural marker of the community.

Afterword

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-208
Author(s):  
Edward Finegan
Keyword(s):  
Expert Witness ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Professor Emeritus ◽  
University Of Southern California ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Register Variation ◽  
Reference Grammar ◽  
General Linguistics ◽  
The University

Abstract Edward Finegan, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Law at the University of Southern California, provides this afterword to synthesize and provide commentary on the six articles in this issue. He has been involved with research on register for more than 30 years, publishing a large number of empirical studies on register and the book Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Register (Biber & Finegan 1994, Oxford University Press). He is also co-author on the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad, & Finegan 1999, Longman), the first comprehensive reference grammar to systematically account for register. He is currently involved in research on the relationship between register variation and social dialect variation. In addition to his research on register, Finegan has made tremendous contributions in the areas of general linguistics, language variation in the U.S., and language attitudes toward correctness, publishing widely-used textbooks in all three areas. He has also been an influential figure in the application of linguistics in legal proceedings, acting as expert witness in many legal cases, particularly those related to defamation and trademark. He currently serves as the Editor of the journal Dictionaries: The Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America.

Anglo-Australians’ and Immigrants’ Attitudes toward Language and Accent: A Review of Experimental and Survey Research

1987 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor J. Callan ◽  
Cynthia Gallois
Keyword(s):  
Second Generation ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
National Language ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Opportunities To Learn ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Speech Communities ◽  
Ethnic Language

Research on the language attitudes of members of dominant and minority speech communities has special importance in countries such as Australia, where governments are in the process of developing a national language policy. Research in Australia suggests that Anglo-Australians remain strongly monolingual and Anglophile in their attitudes; they support educational programs on other languages mainly for their children's own educational advantage. In addition, they show preference in most situations for standard or prestige varieties of English. Second generation members of immigrant groups are under strong pressure to assimilate and to abandon their community languages. Opportunities to learn and use community language are somewhat restricted. In addition, young, second generation Australians may in some cases have even more negative attitudes toward nonstandard accents in English then do Anglo-Australians although they may value their own ethnic language as a signal of solidarity with their ethnic community.

scholarly journals Sikap Bahasa Penutur Shimakutuba Dialek Uchinaguchi Di Prefektur Okinawa

KIRYOKU ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Reny Wiyatasari
Keyword(s):  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Endangered Language ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The World ◽  
Research Population ◽  
Language Attitude ◽  
Questionnaire Method

(Title: Language Attitudes Of The Speakers Of Uchinaguchi Dialect,  Shimakutuba Language In Okinawa Prefekture) This study aims to determine the language attitude of the speakers of the Uchinaguchi dialect, one of the dialects in Shimakutuba which is the language used in the Okinawa islands. Shimakutuba is one of the languages in the world set by UNESCO as an endangered language. Because the theme of this research is focused on language attitudes which is one of the topics in sociolinguistic studies, the data are collected using the questionnaire method through distributing questionnaires to respondents who are considered representative representing the research population and also using literature study methods. Then the data were analyzed using descriptive methods. Based on the results of the questionnaire, it was found that the language attitude shown by speakers of Shimakutuba was divided into two, namely positive attitudes and negative attitudes. A positive attitude consists of positive active and positive passivity.

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