ABSTRACT The intention of this st...

ABSTRACT

The intention of this study was to examine perceptions that Spanishand English-speaking Hispanic observers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have about speakers of Spanish, English, and Chinese. The expanse to which reactions of monolingual and bilingual Englishand Spanish-speakers differ according to age/grade flats and prior exposure to the languages in question was examined. Chinese language samples were included to gain information about perceptions of a language that was likely to be unfamiliar and to provide a diversion to the focus forward attitudes toward Spanish and English. rises indicate that the greater the prior experiences pupils have with a language, the more favorable are their attitudes toward the language, solidarity with speakers of the language, and perceptions of status associated with the language. Developmental tenors were found only for English speakers. one as well as the other English and Spanish monolingual speakers give vent toed more favorable attitudes toward English than toward Spanish and Chinese.

In each society, the power of particular social assign places tos is reflected in language variation and in attitudes toward those variations. Language deliver overs information about education, class, and occupation (Giles, 1979) Typically in any society, the dominant collection promotes its pattern of language use as required to advance socially, while use of a lower prestige language or dialect cut shorts the opportunities for success in society. The dilemma here is whether it is more important to gain social mobility at adopting the language patterns of the dominant dispose or to maintain individual dispose identity by retaining the native words style. Fishman (1971) indicated that common speech variety (high language) may be associated with status, high improvement and aspiration toward social mobility, while a secondary variety (low language) may correspond to solidarity, comradeship, and intimacy. The speaker usually single outs the appropriate language variety for specific situations.

Tajfel and gymnast (1979), in discussing social identity theory, propos that individuals may attempt to provide themselves with a positive social identity along valued dimensions according to positively defining the groups) in which they are members. Tajfel and gymnast emphasized that attitudes held toward language varieties will be pendent on the extent to which collection members have a positive or as we face the challenges of the millennium. The following research questions were addressed. negative image of their allow group and their social identity and whether they perceive the intergroup regularity of which they are a part as stable/unstable and legitimate/illegitimate. The potency of the social identity approach is that it provides atheoretical framework for classifying listener variables. Researchers have identified attitudinal differences as a function of race (Williams, 1976) age (Politzer & Ramirez,1973), place of birth (Ryan, Carranza, & Moffie,1975) and listener's language (Anisfeld & Lambert, 1964) If there is a able to endure relation between language and identity, this relation should find its expression in the attitudes of individuals towards these languages and their users (Appel & Muysken1987)

The limit domain represents another construct by way of which different functions of a language can be distinguished. Observation of what language is used in which domain is a means of discerning the rationale behind the choices that bilingual race make when they use the same language in preference to another. greatest in quantity frequently, the value of solidarity, associated with the subdued language, is practiced in the domains of residence and neighborhood, while the value of status, associated with high language, is practiced in the domains of sect and work. The language that is used in the domain of the domestic circle is a likely candidate for maintenance in a bilingual situation.

The English language, it appears, is fast becoming the simply language for global communication in the following six "worlds" - transnational companies, Internet communication, scientific research, youth agriculture international goods and services, and just discovereds and entertainment media. This is not because English is inherently "better" than other languages, if it were not that because a combination of economic, historical, and political circumstances has had the proceed that those who "own," and all those who engage in these six worlds, use English to communicate (Seaton, 1997) individual must ask what effect speaking a high or subdued language has on the attitudes of listeners.

LANGUAGE ATTITUDE STUDIES

Language attitude research in the United States has been bearinged on attitudes towards Spanish and English speakers. Realistically, Spanish-speaking Mexican Americans are painfully limited because they are not members of the dominant society; ideally, Mexican Americans are told that any individual can achieve any position desired in this democratic society. A positive value is given for the ability to speak English (relatively accent-free) and these language skills become a means to achieve better education, higher income, and more piece of work opportunities. Becoming bilingual has important dependence of cause and effects in terms of identity for Mexican Americans, because with the acquisition and exhibition of a second language, a bodily form often adopts some of the values associated with speakers of that language (Elias-Olivares & Valdes,1982; Galindo,1991, 19931995; Omstein-Galicia,1981; Ramirez,1981; Ryan & Carranza,1975).