language attitudes – Educational Sociolinguistics

Language Attitudes in Italy: Regional Accents and Popular Representations

Martina Boi

Italy is a fascinating place when it comes to sociolinguistics. The dialects and languages spoken around the country are so particular and recognizable that it is very easy yo immediately understand where an Italian is from after they say two or three words. Although grammar and vocabulary-wise Italian is the same all around the peninsula, the language sounds very very different depending on the region where it is spoken.

Every single region has its own particular accent and intonation when speaking Italian (to understand this it might be helpful to think about the English spoken in New York and the one spoken in Texas, for example), and sometimes the difference is perceptible even between towns within the same region. These differences are so particular that many comedians have built their performances on the specificities of Italian accents and dialects, and it is possible to see these accents represented in many tv shows and Italian movies. What is interesting is that every time one of these shows reproduce Italian accents or dialects, the latter are always associated with very specific meanings and representations. This is because language is strongly linked with ideologies and attitudes, and a language is never only just a language, but it is the combination of historical, political and cultural features that create a collective imaginary of that language and its people.

As Van Herk (2018) explains “Language attitudes underlie […] the way we evaluate other people and their speech” (p. 159). Every time an Italian hears an Italian accent, immediately a combination of attitudes, images and stereotypes takes shape in their mind, and this is because every Italian region and the accent or dialect spoken in it are strongly associated with specific representations. It is interesting to notice how certain accents are considered to be ugly (I’m thinking here of showgirls from Sardinia or Naples and other regions that were asked to take courses of diction to sound good, neutral or standardly Italian on the stage) while others are seen as more elegant or cool (the accents from Rome or Florence, for example), and that attitudes toward a person can be strongly influenced by the language/dialect spoken by this person.

When we talk about Italy, the range of representations associated with different accents and dialects is extremely wide. North Italy is much more modern and advanced if compared to the rest of Italy (and in particular the South) when it comes to economy, infrastructures, education rates, technology. Milan is the emblem of this. It is here that we find skyscrapers, business, the fashion week, famous brands. It is here that posh, snob, stylish people live, and it is here that we hear people “speaking in italics” (“parlare in cörsivœ”). Yes, when the Milanese accent is over-performed its accent is considered to be an italic version of Italian, because it is associated with poshness and coolness. On the contrary, most accents from the South are associated with underdevelopment, low literacy and education rates, ignorance and everything that is far from a modern civil world. Naples is associated with superstition and sketchiness (because of the illegal business carried on by the famous Neapolitan swindlers), Sicily is associated with mafia (“The Godfather” is the first thing that comes to mind here), Sardinia is associated with shepherds and primitiveness. This difference in representations could be explained by the fact that while the North is very cold and business oriented (and, consequently, its people are considered to be very serious and emotionless), the South is much warmer, family oriented, and deeply rooted in traditions that value food and folklore. This can be represented through the dichotomy between rational (the North) and emotional (the South), especially if we think about the fact that often Southern people (and their language) are seen as overly dramatic, extrovert, impetuous and impassioned. Consequently, the accent, dialects and languages heard around South Italy take on a whole different kind of representations.

As you can see, when it comes to language attitudes in Italy, things can get very funny and interesting, but sometimes also unpleasant because language attitudes often generate stereotypes that can be used to discriminate and negatively represent a certain people. If you speak a dialect or if your accents is associated with particular characteristic I would like to ask you: are you pride of the variety of language that you speak or are you ashamed of it? How aware are you of the meanings carried by the dialect/accent that you speak? Think about it and see what comes out!

References

Van Herk, G. (2018). Attitudes and Ideologies. In Van Herk, G. (Ed.), What is sociolinguistics? (pp. 171-186). 2e Chichester, West Sussex, UK:Wiley-Blackwell.

Standard language ideologies: Attitudes toward language varieties

Elizabeth M.

There is comfort and pleasure in traveling to places where you speak the language. Languages have the power to make one feel right at home. As I entered a coffee shop in France, I smelled the wonderful coffee and baked goods. I made my way near the cash register and ordered an americano. My friend living in France had told me that americano was the equivalence for a black coffee in Québec, so I was confident that I would be able to prevent any confusion. My prediction was unfortunately incorrect. The cashier stared at me, squinted his eyes, and paused for a while. I could not tell if he did not understand my order or if he noticed my unfamiliar accent. I repeated my order, a little louder, with less “Québécois”, and made sure to pronounce each and every syllable in my sentence. I felt pretty confident at this point. He continued staring; no words were uttered. He finally said: “Tu es Québécoise? Je suis sûr! J’adore votre accent, c’est si drôle! The barista was very friendly and meant nothing wrong with this remark. I sounded different, which made him smile. We chatted for a while, exchanged warm smiles, and waved goodbye. Throughout my stay in France, redundant remarks, some not so friendly, related to my Québécois accent made it clear to me that there were deeply-rooted attitudes and ideologies related to French of France (FF) and French of Québec (FQ). Standard language ideologies influence how speakers of a language feel about themselves and how they identify with their language community.

The comparison between FQ and FF has been a significant topic for examination in the sociolinguistics field. Who is “better”? Why is one “better”? What does “better” mean? Why are FQ and FF different? What are others’ perceptions of these variations? The ideologies attached to the French language variations reflect the prestige, correctness, and status that is given or declined to FF or FQ. After the Quiet Revolution, a linguistic Québécois identity emerged. This nationalist identity was detached from the rest of Canada and from France (Puska, Jansen & Chalier, 2019). The distinction of the French language in Québec from FF presents various cultural, identity, and linguistic issues. Historically, the standard, the ideal way to speak French has mostly been attributed to FF. Thus, FF has gained most of the prestige, privilege, and advantages over FQ. This significantly affects the ways in which people approach both varieties. For instance, the majority of allophones in Montréal would prefer learning FF than FQ (Guertin, 2018).

How are these privileges maintained and preserved? Lippi-Green (1997:68) contextualizes the language subordination process.

The FQ is mystified. « Je comprends vraiment rien! Il faut vraiment être Québécois pour vous comprendre. » I don’t understand anything! You have to be a real Quebecer to understand.
The FF claims authority. « Nous sommes les experts, nous parlons « le vrai» français. » We are the experts, we speak « real » French.
FQ is trivialized. « Votre accent est si drôle! Je ne suis pas capable de vous prendre au sérieux. » Your accent is so funny! I am not able to take you seriously.”

The issues related to FQ and FF can relate to the duality of native and non-native speakers of English. The dichotomy of native and non-native speakers, of “good” and “bad” language attitudes are deeply embedded in second language teaching and learning contexts. The identities of non-native English speakers are significantly affected by the negative ideologies that are associated with varieties that do not sound “native”. Learners of English as a second language have this idea that to attain a high level of proficiency and competence, they must sound like a native speaker of English. Language myths, assumptions, and long-established beliefs strengthen the cycle of superiority and privilege of native English speakers. Breaking this cycle is easier said than done. In the classroom, teachers play a significant role in ensuring that L2 learners of English feel confident and satisfied with their language abilities, regardless of sounding like a native or non-native speaker of English. By reinforcing this open and inclusive language ideology, students may focus on their proficiency and competence level without comparing it to native-like language models. Individually and collectively, we can break standard language ideologies and embrace language varieties by resisting myths, assumptions, and stereotypes related to languages.

When traveling, languages give a sense of belonging and not belonging. Languages give us a chance to connect, exchange, and identify with communities all around the world. Not just the language itself, but the people that speak and embody it allow us to understand parts of ourselves. Language ideologies and attitudes shape our (mis)understandings of ourselves and others; hence, the importance of demystifying and bringing to light new, more comprehensive alternatives to seeing languages. The dualities of FF and FQ, and native and non-native speakers of English, require further examination and consideration to mend cultural, linguistic, and social gaps. When, or, how are “we” going to stop the perpetuation of “good” and “bad” language attitudes?

References:

Pustka, E., Jansen, L., & Chalier, M. (2019). “C’est toujours l’autre qui a un accent » : Le prestige méconnu des accents du Sud, des Antilles et du Québec. Glottopol, 31, 27-52.

Guertin, M. (2018). Variation sociophonétique dialectale et stylistique: quelle est la langue cible en français langue seconde à Montréal? Arborescences, 7, 67-89.

Van Herk, G. (2018). What is sociolinguistics? 2e Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

The changing language attitude of Hong Kongers in recent decades

By Kunyao Kuang

My final project is about the language attitude and ideology in Chinese dialect films. When I was collecting materials for the project, I found many interesting studies about Hong Kongers’ language attitudes towards Cantonese, Mandarin and English so I would like to share it here.

Hong Kong was under British colonial rule from 1841 to 1997 (excluding the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945). During this period, Hong Kong people used both English and Cantonese. It is believed that a diglossic relationship was formed that English was prestigious language that used by the government, schools and in other formal occasions, while Cantonese was used among friends, families and in informal occasions. Code-switching of English and Cantonese was, or is very common for Hong Kongers. In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to the sovereignty of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) by British. The government of HK SAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) has carried out a new language policy, which is “Biliterate and Trilingual Policy” that Hong Kongers should be proficient in written Chinese and English, and able to speak Cantonese, Putonghua and English (Tung, 1997). Therefore, after the handover, the status of the national language of the PRC, Putonghua (also known as Mandarin), was predicted to increase tremendously very soon.

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Well, I have a knack for languages, but attitudes towards the language/speakers do matter!

By Mansour Ahmed:

In school, Arabic, namely Arabic grammar, which constitutes a chronic headache for most students of Arabic, was my favorite subject. I especially looked forward to sentence parsing and assigning the proper cases and diacritical marks to lexical items. In grade 7, I started learning English. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it just as much, English grammar in particular. Motivated by some German friends, I once decided to learn German all by myself. In three months, I learned so much. My pronunciation was almost native-like, according to them. A few years ago, I decided to add French to the list. Initially, my knack did not fail me (but it began to falter, see below for whys). Perhaps, this is genetically determined because my kids do outstandingly well in languages (Arabic, English, and French) in school. Hence, it may be possible to say that some people have a knack for languages while others don’t. Besides this special gift for languages, which to date has not been fully accounted for and understood by SLA researchers (to the best of my knowledge), it is argued that how well and how fast a second language can be acquired depends on a number of factors/variables, such as motivation, L2 instruction, and attitudes (among others). I will endeavour to tersely illustrate the role of attitudes in L2 acquisition (NB: the attitudes I am talking about here is slightly different from those in VH chapter).

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How do attitudes and ideologies from diverse groups affect my English Learning?

Yuting Zhao

The two articles in this week really strike a chord with me. They remind me of many things about my English learning. In this blog, I would like to talk about how attitudes and ideologies from diverse groups affect my English learning experience.

Attitudes and ideologies from my parents

My mother told me, fifty years ago, in China, as long as people can speak English, it is very good. But since twenty years ago, with the development of Chinese economic reform, not only should people know how to speak English, but also they need to speak Standardized English (Native English). My parents perceived and predicted that speaking native English will be a survival tool for me in the future. Why is English a survival tool? Because they think native English will make me adapt better in a globalized environment so that I can live better. They demonstrated their beliefs by sending me to a bilingual (English-Chinese) school in another city when I was six. I guessed that was probably the toughest time in my whole life but I indeed learned a lot.

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Positives and negatives of language learning

Sophia G

Language is a tricky thing. On one hand, it is given to us freely; on the other, we really have no choice in the language that we are given. Some of us are even gifted with multilingual families and learn many languages, others are gifted a small snapshot of one language.

Language and the composition of a person’s languages can largely impact their whole life. When asked to look at the positives and negatives of my language learning and my language composition, it came out strangely negative. I found this quite sad. First, let’s start out by explaining my language composition.

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