This study examines the evolution of language attitudes of linguistically diverse adolescents in urban Catalonia a generation after the instauration of Linguistic Normalization, official language policies favoring Catalan. Woolard (1984, 1989) and Woolard and Gahng's (1990) classic Catalan/Spanish matched guise studies are used as a baseline. Current data come from a modified and expanded replication of those original studies. Findings show: (1) differences in attitudes between youths of Spanish and Catalan background have softened; (2) disparities in Status and Solidarity have evened out; (3) language choice can be highly gendered; and (4) bilingual proficiency is now valued by and for both communities. The support for bilingualism and the easing of divisions are understood as signs of increased 'linguistic cosmopolitanism,' a stance that looks beyond parochial own-group communities and favors bridging linguistic boundaries. The significance is that minority languages can be valued when they take on such symbolic roles.
The study describes the effects of formal instruction (FI) and a stay abroad (SA) on the fluency displayed by 19 bilingual EFL undergraduate non-native speakers (NNSs). It includes data from 10 native speakers (NSs). The relative frequencies of seven dysfluency phenomena at three datacollection points are compared statistically, and a linear regression analysis is performed between NS and NNS data. A strategic change is revealed. After FI, learners adjust their speech to an NS pattern, but disruptions -especially selfrepetitions, pauses, and non-lexical fillers -are still frequent. The SA serves to correct this somewhat while maintaining the NS-like tendency. There is a decrease in the number of phenomena that may be perceived as signs of insecurity, producing the impression of more fluent speech. These phenomena are replaced by increases in lexical fillers that may make NNS speech appear lexically richer. Both FI and SA, therefore, are shown to be positive contexts of acquisition.
This study explores the connections between language policy implementation in three Barcelona-area secondary schools and the language attitudes and behaviors of Spanish-speaking Latin American newcomers. Data were collected through interviews and ethnographic participant observation document indexes of different forms of language socialization processes and highlight the role of teachers and of 'Reception Classes' (RCs) in which students receive Catalan language support. Different RC models and placements of the RC in the school have effects on those processes and the students' attitudes toward Catalan and schooling. Deficient models result from lack of institutional support and unfavorable conditions of the RC in the school. Positive models result from individual teacher initiative and commitment to move beyond basic language teaching and include broader social and academic objectives for newcomers. We conclude that language policy meeting goals requires consistent commitment at all levels from policy-makers to individual teachers.
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