The effect of individual epistemological factors on attitudes to nonstandard language use in native speakers of Polish

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses the issue of the influence of personal epistemological tendencies in native speakers of Polish on their perception of non-standard Polish. We argue in favor of taking into consideration the interpersonal differences concerning the way one conceptualizes the reality through the lenses of language as valid factors in of language perception. The essentialist factor in personal epistemology is believed to affect, to a considerable extent subconsciously, one's tolerance to non-standardness and ambiguity, which in turn influences covert and overt attitudes towards not only individual forms, but also entire spoken and written styles. The study described in this paper was devised in order to test and calibrate an experimental design for testing individual language-related epistemological and cognitive tendencies. The subjects are 36 Polish university students with no linguistic training. The study consists of a test designed to assess one’s personal epistemological tendencies representative of essentialist beliefs, and a language perception survey with a focus on non-standard forms in conversational Polish. The tendencies observed in the analysis of the results of the language perception survey and one’s essentialism indicator are discussed in order to propose possible further research.