Work

Modeling Language Attitudes: Attitudinal Measurements and Linguistic Behavior in Two Bilingual Communities

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper investigates whether attitudinal measures can predict usage in two bilingual communities with radically different language policies. We compare 163 participants’ (ages 24–36) rates of spontaneous language usage to two attitudinal measures among Welsh—English and Lombard—Italian bilinguals. Usage rates are found to correlate with Matched Guise Technique status scores for Lombard and to predict solidarity scores for Welsh. A different picture emerges from the Implicit Association Test, with scores correlating with usage for Welsh but not for Lombard. We link these findings to the radically different levels of sociopolitical support associated with the regional/minority languages and the nature of the two attitudinal measures. Our findings suggest that the utility of different attitudinal measures depends partly on sociopolitical circumstances and on the type of association intrinsically addressed in each measure. These have important implications for both the study of language attitudes and research on language vitality.

Source: Journal of Language and Social Psychology

DOI: 10.1177/0261927x251315114

Authors: Marco Tamburelli, Ianto Gruffydd, Florian Breit, Lissander Brasca

Institutions: Bangor University, Cardiff University, University College London

Language: English

Topic: Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies

Subfield: Linguistics and Language

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650

Funder: Economic and Social Research Council