Does contact with linguistics influence language attitudes? An analysis of factors influencing the attitudes toward Afr

1. Does contact with linguistics influence language attitudes? An analysis of factors influencing the attitudes toward African American Vernacular English Judith Bündgens-Kosten, M.A. Aachen University

2. Attitudes are tendencies for evaluative behavior, realized by cognitive, affective and/or behavioral responses toward attitude objects. Language attitudes

3. Relevance Does contact with linguistics influence language attitudes? And why does this question matter?

4. A number of linguists have suggested programs in linguistics as a ‘remedy' for negative attitudes. E.g. Isma’il Abdul-Hakim (2002), Gail Y. Okawa, Orlando Taylor (1973), Roger W. Shuy (1970), Robert L. Bowie and Carole L. Bond (1994), John Baugh (2001)‏ Common claims

5. Bowie & Bond 1994: relationship between attitudes toward AAVE and discussion of AAVE in college courses Abdul-Hakim 2002: no relationship between discussion of AAVE in highschool or college courses and attitudes toward AAVE Blake & Cutler 2003: no relationship between a college course in linguistics and attitudes toward AAVE Previous research

6. Study I • German speakers’ attitudes toward German dialects • pretest – posttest – format • 12-item Likert-style attitude questionnaire • two introductory courses in linguistics (Siegen and Aachen)‏ • no attitude change could be observed

7. Study II • American teachers’ attitudes toward AAVE • post-ex-facto-format • Thurstone scale (attitudes)‏ • guided self-assessment (contact with linguistics)‏

8. Attitude scale • Thurstone scaling • Method of paired comparison • N=20 • interval scale level

9. African American English is used to strengthen a common identity between its speakers. (0)‏ African American English can add flavour and soul to a poem, song or novel. (41)‏ African American English is a perfectly normal thing in American media. (49)‏ African American English has a place at the home of its speakers. (62)‏ It would be a terrible thing to lose African American English. (87)‏ African American English is very structured. (90)‏ Items

10. African American English differs from other forms of speech. (125)‏ Speaking African American English can cause difficulties on the job market. (174)‏ African American English has very little grammar. (190)‏ African American English is broken English. (216)‏ Speakers of African American English do not express complete thoughts. (239)‏ African American English is not cool. (265)‏ Speaking African American English is an indicator for laziness. (360)‏ Items

11. Contact with linguistics [] I never had contact with linguistics in any form. [] I had a little contact with linguistics (e.g. read an article in a journal, watched a documentary)‏ [] I had some contact with linguistics (e.g. attended at least one seminar on linguistics at university or attended a teacher training workshop, read one or more books on linguistics)‏ [] I had a lot contact with linguistics (e.g. attended several seminars on linguistics at university, etc.)‏ [] I am a linguist (e.g. degree in linguistics)‏ Overall, I had contact with linguistics [] in my freetime (hobbies and entertainment)‏ [] through my job (e.g. on-the-job training, books and journals for teachers) [] during university training Guided self-assessment

12. teaching experience from 0 to 22 years, 3.9 years average teaching experience Kindergarten: 3.9% Elementary: 27.9% High School: 29.8% Junior High: 1.9% Middle School: 22.1% Other: 14.4% 13.5% of those in special education work: 87.5% retired: 2.9% teacher training: 9.6% Sample N=104 (from a total of 117 questionnaires)‏ 91.4% female, 8.7% male ages 21- 56, average age 28.8 33 different US states European American/Caucasian/White: 84.6% Asian American: 3.9% Latino/Hispanic: 1.9% African American/Black: 1.0% other: 2.9% unset: 5.8%

13. Contact with linguistics never 11 (10.6%)‏ little 36 (34.6%)‏ some 43 (41.3%)‏ a lot 13 (12.5%)‏ linguist 1 (1%)‏

14. Contact with linguistics Overall, I had contact with linguistics in my freetime (hobbies and entertainment): 35.6% through my job (e.g. on-the-job training, books and journals for teachers): 26.9% during university training: 54.8%

15. Latitude of acceptance

16. Latitude of acceptance

17. Ambivalent attitudes: Ambivalent attitudes have been observed for the attitude object “African Americans” (e.g. Katz & Glass 1973, Haas et al. 1991)‏ Latitude of acceptance

18. Attitude change

19. African American English has a place at the home of its speakers. (62) (higher)‏ It would be a terrible thing to lose African American English. (87) (lower)‏ African American English is very structured. (90) (lower)‏ Attitude change

20. Attitude change

21. African American English has a place at the home of its speakers. (62) (higher)‏ It would be a terrible thing to lose African American English. (87) (lower)‏ African American English is very structured. (90) (lower)‏ African American English differs from other forms of speech. (125) (higher) African American English has very little grammar. (190) (lower)‏ Attitude change

22. Subjects were asked for a self-evalution of whether or not their contact with linguistics had influenced their attitudes toward AAVE. Answers here were mixed. Nearly as many chose “no” as did “yes”, over a quarter of subjects could not decide. yes: 35.6% no: 32.7%‏ unset: 1.0% don’t know: 16.4% not applicable: 14.4% Self-perception

23. Contact with linguistics influences language attitudes to some degree, but does not cause systematic improvements of attitudes. Further research is needed on how exactly linguistic knowledge interacts with existing attitudes, e.g. to which new beliefs it gives rise, and how these interact with existing attitudes. Interpretation

24. Programs in linguistics can be beneficial for many reasons. The potential for attitude change is only one of those. If programs in linguistics are recommended for the sole purpose of creating attitude change, their effectiveness has to be individually determined. Conclusion

25. I would like to thank: All subjects and scale-value judges Sourcelounge for hosting the questionnaire Robert Kosten for PHP and MySQL programming Acknowledgements

26. Abdul-Hakim, Isma’il. 2002. Florida preservice teachers’ attitudes toward African American Vernacular English. Florida State University. <http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-06232003-112932/>. 7/23/2007. Baugh, John. 2001. “Applying linguistic knowledge of African American English to help students learn and teachers teach“. In: Lanehart, Sonja L. (ed.). Sociocultural and Historical Contexts of African American English. (Varieties of English around the world: general series. G 27), 319-330. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Blake, Renée; Cutler, Cecilia. 2003. “AAE and variation in teachers' attitudes: a question of school philosophy?“. Linguistics and education. 14,2, 163-194. Bowie, Robert L.; Bond, Carole L. 1994. “Influencing future teachers' attitudes toward Black English: are we making a difference?“. Journal of teacher education. 45,2, 112-118. Eagly, Alice; Chaiken, Shelley. 1993. The psychology of attitudes. Belmont: Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning. Edwards, Allen L. 1957. Techniques of attitude scale construction. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Haas, Glen R. et al. 1991. “Cross-racial appraisal as related to attitude, ambivalence and cognitive complexity“. Personality and social psychology bulletin. 17, 83-92. Katz, Irwin; Glass, David C. 1973, “Ambivalence, guilt, and the scapegoating of minority group victims“. Journal of experimental social psychology, 9. 423-436. Okawa, Gail Y. 2002. “From ‘bad attitudes’ to(ward) linguistic pluralism: developing reflective language policy among preservice teachers“. In: Gonzáles, Roseann Dueñas (ed.); Melis, Ildiko (ed.). Language ideologies: critical perspectives of the Official English Movement: volume 1: education and the social implications of official language. Mahwah (New Jersey): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 276-296. Shuy, Roger W. 1970. “Teacher training and urban language problems“. In: Fasold, Ralph W.; Shuy, Roger W. (eds.). Teaching Standard English in the inner city. (Urban language series. 6). Washington D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics, 120-141. Taylor, Orlando. 1973. “Teachers' attitudes toward Black and Nonstandard English as measured by the language attitude scale“. In: Shuy, Roger W. (ed.); Fasold, Ralph W. (ed.). Language attitudes: current trends and prospects. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 174-201. Wolfram, Walt. 1999. “Repercussions from the Oakland Ebonics controversy: the critical role of dialect awareness programs“. In: Adger, Carolyne Temple (ed.); et al. Making the connection: language and academic achievement among African American students. [n.p.]: Center for Applied Linguistics, 61-80. References