Affiliation:
1. Department of French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract
Language is a powerful social force that does more than merely communicate content. Language learners can show preference for certain varieties over others due to linguistic stereotyping and the awareness that accents can lead to an array of social and professional disadvantages. This study explores the hierarchization of different varieties of French within Canada and the interplay of variety and race. A modified matched-guise test was used to gather attitudinal data from 94 participants undertaking Frenchlanguage courses at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The goals of this study were to unpack the perceived hierarchization of five different varieties of French (from Moncton, Quebec City, Vancouver [a non-native speaker], Abidjan, and Paris) and to identify a possible correlation between the evaluation of varieties of French and the racialization of speakers. Participants evaluated speakers on four dimensions: status, solidarity, understandability, and general perspective. The findings revealed a clear hierarchy based on attitudes. For most statements, the participants evaluated speakers of Quebec and European French more favourably. Interestingly, they also evaluated the non-native speaker of French more positively than the speakers of African and Acadian French. However, for each variety of French, the voices associated with Black speakers were evaluated more positively than those associated with White speakers.
Publisher
University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)
Subject
Linguistics and Language,Education
Reference79 articles.
1. South Korean university students’ perceptions of different English varieties and their contribution to the learning of English as a foreign language
2. Boudreau, A. (1998). Représentations et attitudes linguistiques des jeunes francophones de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Université de Lille III).
Cited by
3 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献