Accepting accent:Attitude of high school pupils towards language varieties

Abstract

This aper is based on a minidissertation which re orts on the attitude of iirfan high school id ils towarh varieties of ,&glish, an important issue in the New Souttf&ica. The extent to which the language variety spoken is acce ted is seen as an indication of how the home-langua e group to whictf the speaker beloti s is perceived. An adaptation of t i e tnatched-guise technique was use$ to assess the unconscious affective stereo ped perceptions o speakers of three accents in English: Stanspeakers were used as a Ifiller'. A male and a female reader for each accent were used and their voices were as closely matched as possible to ensure that what the subjects reacted to was primarily the accent or lanage variety used. The sub'ects were also asked to voluntarily guess the Erne-langua e back outidof each speaker and hidher occupation. A detailed anafsis ofiesults is given and possible advantages of an adaptation ofYthe matched-guise technique are explained. Methodological problems experienced and possible factors contributing to the perceplions revealed in the study are discussed. Hierdie navorsingsprojek probeer die houding vasstel van stedelike hoerskoolleerlinge teenoor varieteite van Engels. Dit is ' n belanqike vraagstuk in die nuwe Suid-Afiika. In die mate waartoe die taalvarteteit aarrvaarbaar is, uvrd die taalgroep waaraan die spreker behoort aanvaar. 'n Aangepaste vorm van die vermommin stepiek (hatched-guise technique') IS gebruik om die onbewuste a#ektrew en stereoti iese hiidin s teenoor sprekers van drie varieteite van Etigels: Staniiard Suid-A ikaatise Engels,Afiikaanse Engels en Xhosa En els te probeer vier vroulike lesers, we se stenime so na moontlik by mekaar pas, is gebruik sodat die leerlinge se reaksie hoofsaaklik op dte gebruikte varieteit van Enpels en niks anders moet wees nie. Die leerlin e is ook gevra om vrywillig die nioedertaalagtergrond van elke spreLr te raai, asook syfhaar beroep. Bevindinge word in detail gerapporteer. Moontlike voordele van 'n aanpassing van die 'matched-guise' tegriiek en metodologiese probletne ervaar gedurende die navorsingsprojek, asook faktore wat tot die bestaande ersepsies (soos wat uit die studie blyk) dard ? 011th Afiican, Afri G aaiis English and Xhosa Eiiglish. American bepaa P Amerikaanse sprekers is gebruik as aanvullers. fi ier manlike en kotr aanleiditrg gegee het, wor f bespreek.' Also associated with the Research

Integrativeness: untenable for world Englishes learners?

“…The positive in‐group identification of the more proficient Afrikaans and Southern Sotho participants in this project poses a strong challenge to the notion of integrative motivation that underlies social approaches to second‐language learning. Integrativeness is a problematic predictor of English second achievement in South Africa (Lanham, 1985: 248; Nortje and Wissing, 1996: 141; Bosch and De Klerk, 1996: 246) for three reasons. First, English is learnt by South Africans to communicate and better understand (Lambert's definition of integrativeness) speakers of South African languages other than English, across language boundaries.…”

“…Thirdly, lack of contact between learners of English as a second language and first‐language speakers of English is a concern for researchers of English second‐language learning (Desai et al , 1992: 12; Luckett, 1993: 47–8). Integration with the South African English first‐language group is, therefore, not a reason for learning English in South Africa (Lanham, 1985: 248; Nortje and Wissing, 1996: 141; Bosch and De Klerk, 1996: 246), and successfully mastering English is not enough reason to be accepted as part of the English‐speaking South African community. These differences between the language‐learning context in South Africa and the context of immigrants/minority groups in a monolingual environment (the prototype situation for the study of integrative motivation) renders the very construct of integrative motivation problematic.…”

An Assessment of High School Pupils' Attitudes Towards the Pronunciation of Black South African English

“…The results, therefore, suggest that linguistic rather than racial factors might be the cause of the difference between the two English-speaking experimental groups. Nortje (1995: 34) finds that the English participants in her study devaluated their own accent with regard to some traits such as personal integrity and social attractiveness (see also NortjC & Wissing, 1996). This might also be true for some of the English-speaking participants in this study, but cannot be generalised, given the internal differences in this group.…”