Young children talk about their popular cartoon and TV heroes' speech styles: media reception and language attitudes

Abstract

Considering the role of popular cultural texts in shaping sociolinguistic reality, it makes sense to explore how children actually receive those texts and what conceptualisations of sociolinguistic diversity they form through those texts. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine Greek young children's views on sociolinguistic diversity in popular cartoons and TV series. Drawing upon a framework of media reception, we explored how attention to the ways children at age six interpret mediated representations of sociolinguistic difference might provide a methodological addition to tools used for investigating language attitudes and ideologies. From the analysis of children's interviews, it was found that they can easily distinguish between different dimensions of sociolinguistic difference, showing an enhanced sociolinguistic awareness. On the other hand, their reading positions seemed to be in acceptance with the meanings conveyed in the texts. Moreover, our findings suggest that children tended to make hegemonic readings of popular cultural texts, premising many of their evaluations on the ways in which sociolinguistic diversity was represented in the text (e.g. plot, characterisation). The implications of these findings for the role of popular culture in the shaping of children's language attitudes are discussed.

Language teaching and critical literacy curriculum in Greek primary education: implementation and perspectives

“…It is worth noting that the application of critical literacy practices in smaller classes appears more difficult, as it is often said that children at these ages have not developed sociolinguistic awareness or that the development of other skills in oral or written discourse is paramount, with emphasis on the teaching of grammar and vocabulary according to the traditional perception (Koutsogiannis, 2017, p. 91). However, although preschool and elementary school pupils tend to align with the preferred reading (Hall, 1980) of the producers of mass culture texts, accepting the dominant meanings projected by them (Stamou et al, 2015), these pupils are aware of the property of language to vary and are able to easily distinguish between different linguistic varieties that are spoken by different fictional characters.…”

“…Despite the difficulties recorded in the teaching field, the response of teachers participating in trainings on the utilization of literacy theories and the pedagogy of multiliteracies in the classroom (Fterniati et al, 2016;Stamou et al, 2015) is positive and demonstrates the importance of further informing the educational community about modern language teaching approaches. The response of the pupils is also positive, considering the evaluative remarks of the trainee students (Frydaki & Mamoura, 2011;Oikonomakou, 2019) of the university pedagogical departments that carry out their teaching in a coordinated manner at schools and in collaboration with the teachers.…”

Representations of Gender-Diverse Characters in Adventure Time and Steven Universe

“…Children may also learn what language is specifically related to boys and girls when language is used differentially. For example, children can identify gender differences in the language used in popular cartoons and may form stereotyped opinions based on these differences in language use (Stamou et al, 2015).…”

'Linguistic Diversity on TV': A Program for Developing Children's Multiliteracies Skills

“…Those clips were chosen because they depicted characters speaking a range of different speech styles (e.g. Standard Modern Greek, Greek Northern rural accent, youth style of talk) (see Stamou et al, 2015). Each interview lasted about thirty ELENI GRIVA, KATERINA MARONITI, ANASTASIA STAMOU minutes.…”