An Intersectional Exploration of Language Attitudes: How Young Children Reason About Dialect and Accent

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

From early in development, children use language variety (e.g., regional dialect or native vs. non-native accent) as a cue to a person’s social category membership, influencing their attitudes and behavior. The study of language attitudes is complex because linguistic communities are often made up of speakers who belong to intersecting social groups. Further, children’s attitudes about a variety may not be uniformly positive or negative. The papers examine this complexity by exploring multiple aspects of language attitudes in three countries.

Paper 1 examines how French-speaking children (aged 5-12) from Western Canada differentiate between speakers of French dialects. They distinguish dialects from broad regions (national vs. international) before local regions (Canadian provinces) and show a particular sensitivity to dialects spoken by people of different ethnicities.

Paper 2 explores English-speaking Northeastern US children’s (aged 5-10) trait attribution to monolinguals and bilinguals. Children attributed some positive traits (e.g., intelligence) but not others (e.g., leadership and niceness) to bilinguals, suggesting that their attitudes about people who speak multiple languages may not be monolithic.

Paper 3 investigates Spanish monolingual Mexican and Spanish/English bilingual Mexican-American children’s (aged 4-6) friendship preferences. Children systematically selected friends who spoke the same dialect, but only if they were also the same gender and ethnicity/race. The results provide insight into boundary conditions on the use of dialect as a social cue.

The discussant will explore how the intersectional approach of these studies can help us to refine our understanding of children’s language attitudes.

Sub Unit

• Social Cognition

Chair

• Tracie Pospisil, University of Alberta

Discussant

• Jasmine M. DeJesus, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Individual Presentations

• How Children Differentiate Between Speakers of French Dialects in Western Canada - Presenting Author: Tracie Pospisil, University of Alberta; Asma Noomani, University of Alberta; Bella Wynn, University of Alberta; Ruth Kircher, Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning; Andrea A.N. MacLeod, University of Alberta; Anne-José Villeneuve, University of Alberta; Kristan Marchak, University of Alberta

• Trait Assessments of Monolingual and Bilingual Speakers - Presenting Author: Radhika Santhanagopalan, University of Chicago; Jesús Bas, Universitat Pompeu Fabra; Katherine D. Kinzler, University of Chicago

• Social Categories Influence Mexican and Mexican-American Children’s Friendship Preferences and Judgments - Presenting Author: Maria Mercedes Arredondo, University of Texas at Austin; Marissa Vasquez Martinez, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos; Susan A Gelman, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor