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Language attitudes and sociolinguistic behaviour: Exploring attitude‐behaviour relations in language[Note 1. I would like to express my gratitude to Sharon ...]
Author(s) -
Ladegaard Hans J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of sociolinguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1467-9841
pISSN - 1360-6441
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9481.00112
Subject(s) - vernacular , ingroups and outgroups , psychology , social psychology , positive attitude , sociolinguistics , linguistics , developmental psychology , philosophy
This paper is concerned with the relationship between attitude and behaviour in language. Adolescent male and female subjects were recorded and index‐scores of their linguistic behaviour compared to their assessment of ingroup members in a verbal‐guise attitude experiment, and to their attitudes concerning language usage in a questionnaire. It was hypothesised that male subjects' language would be closer to the vernacular, and that they would also express more positive attitudes towards ingroup members than would female subjects. However, no significant correlation between attitude and behaviour was found in the quantitative analysis, but results from the attitude‐questionnaire support our hypothesis: male subjects have more vernacular features in their language and also express more genuinely positive attitudes towards the local vernaculars than do female subjects. Finally, methodological and theoretical implications of these results are discussed, emphasising the importance of using eclectic approaches in future research on attitude‐behaviour relations in language.