1st Edition
Implicit and Explicit Language Attitudes Mapping Linguistic Prejudice and Attitude Change in England
This timely volume constitutes the first book-length account of implicit as well as explicit language attitudes. It details the findings of a large-scale study, incorporating cutting-edge implicit and self-report instruments adapted from social psychology, investigating the evaluations of over 300 English nationals of the status and social attractiveness of Northern English and Southern English speech in England.
The book is unique in its examination of implicit-explicit attitude divergence, across a range of social factors, to identify the direction of language attitude change in progress and the particular social groups leading attitude change. The volume provides a comprehensive understanding of language-based prejudice in England and the study paves the way for researchers to employ newly developed implicit and explicit measures to investigate language attitudes and language attitude change in a range of contexts.
This book is invaluable for researchers in sociolinguistics and applied linguists interested in theoretical and methodological aspects of linguistic prejudice and language variation and change. It is also essential reading for social psychologists with an interest in attitudes, attitude change and prejudice.
List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
1 ENGLISH IN ENGLAND: THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Englishness and the north-south divide
1.3 English in England
1.4 Northern English
1.5 Southern English
References
2 INVESTIGATING EXPLICIT AND IMPLICT LANGUAGE ATTITUDES
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Conceptualising attitudes
2.3 Language attitude research
2.4 Language attitude research in England
References
3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Study objectives and hypotheses
3.3 Population and participant recruitment
3.4 Materials
3.5 Ethical issues
3.6 Pilot study
3.7 Procedure
References
4 RESULTS AND PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Participant demographics
4.3 Explicit attitudes towards Northern English and Southern English speech
4.4 Implicit attitudes towards Northern English and Southern English speech
4.5 The relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes
4.6 The influence of individual differences upon implicit and explicit attitudes
References
5 WIDER DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
5.1 Introduction
5.2 English nationals’ explicit language attitudes towards Northern English and Southern English speech
5.3 English nationals’ implicit language attitudes towards Northern English and Southern English speech
5.4 The influence of individual differences
5.5 Comparing and contrasting implicit and explicit language attitudes
5.6 Final remarks, limitations and the future
References
Index
Biography
Robert M. McKenzie is Associate Professor in Sociolinguistics at Northumbria University. He has a specific interest in folk perceptions of and attitudes towards spoken language variation, especially the ways in which individuals attach social meaning to language varieties and how linguistic diversity is indexed within given speech communities.
Andrew McNeill is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Northumbria University. His research explores the social psychology of intergroup relations in a variety of contexts. He has a particular interest in the intersection of linguistics and psychology and how language is used in identity construction and communication.
"This book is, therefore, a timely attempt to explore implicit attitudes (an aspect of language attitudes that has tended to slip under sociolinguists’ radar) and offer further insights into how language attitudes work at the unconscious level.
Given its innovative approaches, fine-grained and robust analyses, and interesting findings, I invite you to read the book in order to have a fuller picture as masterfully painted by the authors of this discipline-shaping book."
-Kingsley Ugwuanyi, Language in Society
