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Second Language Learners’ Attitudes Toward French Varieties: The Roles of Learning Experience and Social Networks
Author(s) -
LINDBERG RACHAEL,
TROFIMOVICH PAVEL
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/modl.12674
Subject(s) - psychology , active listening , language proficiency , identity (music) , first language , linguistics , test (biology) , willingness to communicate , task (project management) , comprehension , second language , social psychology , pedagogy , communication , paleontology , philosophy , physics , management , acoustics , economics , biology
People often believe that some language varieties are more prestigious than others, which can trigger speech‐centered biases and inform social judgments of the speaker. However, it is largely unknown what types of language experience and exposure might mitigate language biases, especially for second language (L2) learners. The goal of this study was to investigate this issue by focusing on L2 French learners’ attitudes toward European and Quebec varieties of French. L2 French learners in Montreal ( N = 106) rated 2 audios recorded by native speakers from France in a listening comprehension task, with 1 of the 2 speakers introduced as a speaker of Quebec French. The learners described their language learning experience, filled out a French social network questionnaire, and completed a French proficiency test. Results revealed some evidence of reverse linguistic stereotyping, with learners preferring to speak like one speaker significantly more than the other, based on the speaker's assumed identity, not actual speech. Four of the 6 speaker ratings were also associated with participants’ oral proficiency scores, social network density, and positive experiences in Quebec. Findings have implications for the use of speech models in L2 teaching and for the mitigation of language‐centered biases in L2 classrooms.