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za

PER LINGUAM VOL. 6 NO. 2 1990

Language attitudes in the second language situation 1

Riana Roos

A distinction is made between attitudes and specifically language attitudes. The process of
acculturation is dealt with and its influence upon the motivation of ESL learners.
Integrational and instmmental motivation are defined. Teachers' language attitudes, the
dangers of prejudice and stereotyping are discussed. ,Attitude changes are analysed as well as
the teacher's role in effecting them.

'n Onderskeid word getref tussen algemene houdings en houdings ten opsigte van taal. Die
proses van akkulturasie word behandel, asook die invloed daarvan op die motivering van
Engels Tweede Taal-leerders. Die skrywer onderskei verder tussen integrerende en
instmmentale motivering. Die onderwysers se houding teenoor die taal word ook bespreek,
asook die gevare van bevooroordeeldheid en stereotipering. Veranderinge in houdings word
ontleed, en vera! die rol wat die onderwyser speel om die veranderinge teweeg te bring.

1 INTRODUCTION

The measuring of attitudes has an important role to play in the social sciences. The aim
of such measuring is often to draw a profile of a society in order to make certain
predictions. Attitude measuring enables the sociolinguist to identify stereotypes
regarding language groups and to monitor the results of language planning projects.
Studies of lan~age attitudes make it clear that language cannot be separated from
society. Webb (1979) remarks that a person usually transfers his attitude towards a group
of people to that group's dialect or language. A complex set of attitudes is formed which
could have an influence on language in the teaching situation.
In this essay I will point to a few aspects of attitudes and language attitudes, the
implications thereof for the teaching situation and the possibility of attitude change.

2 'ATTITUDES' AND 'LANGUAGE ATTITUDES'

In social psychology an attitude is defined as 'an overall, learned, core disposition that
guides a person's thoughts, feelings and actions toward specific others and objects'
(Middlebrook, 1980: 157). Our attitudes determine what we attend to in our
environment, how we code information regarding the objects in our environment and
how we behave towards the objects. An attitude has three components: a cognitive
component (beliefs), an affective component (emotions) and a connative (behavioural)

1 This article is based on a paper that was read at a TESOL Conference, University of
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), August 1989.

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component. Should a change occur in one of the components, it could cause tension in
the other two components, which might bring about an attitude change.
It is important to understand the difference between an attitude and an opinion. An
attitude is part of the subconscious and would usually not be revealed by direct
questions. An opinion is the conscious expression of a belief and is often not a true
reflection of the attitude, since the opinion could be influenced by several situational
factors. This very fact makes attitude measuring even more difficult, because indirect
methods and questions must be devised to reveal attitudes, not opinions.
A language attitude is more than an attitude towards the language only since the
language attitude reflects the attitude towards the particular cultural group. According to
Webb (1979), language is the most important social polarising factor amon~st white
South Africans. Because of the close relationship between language and soc1ety, it is
evident that language attitudes could influence the learning of a second or foreign
language. Language is such an integral part of culture and group identity that the
learning of a second language could lead to confusion of a person's world view, identity,
thinking patterns, emotions and communication. Brown (1987: 128) stresses the fact that
language learning is part of a process of acculturation which requires a re-orientation
and permeable, adaptable ego boundaries. Because a language attitude is part of such a
complex set of attitudes, it usually strongly resists change.

3 STEREO'IYPES AND HOW THEY INFLUENCE LANGUAGE ATIITUDES

A stereotype is part of the co$nitive component of an attitude and is formed by personal

experience, one's own emotwnal needs and by what one is told by others. Although
stereotypes are often overgeneralized or false beliefs, they influence the way the
individual decodes and interprets information about other individuals or groups. We do
not first see, then define; we first define and then see. Information that is cons1stent with
stereotypes is more readily accepted than information that questions their validity.
Stereotypes are usually part of language attitudes and could become obstacles in the way
of language learning since one tends to categorize persons according to their accent and
pronunciation, even without consciously associating them with certain reference groups.
Gordon Allport's statement regarding stereotyping and labelling is relevant in this
context: 'Most people are unaware of this basic faw of language - that every label applied
to a person refers only properly to one as{>ect of his nature .... A cate~ory, once formed
... , tends to attract more attributes than 1t should .... But our cognitive process is not
cautious. The labeled (sic) category includes indiscriminately the defining attribute,
probable attributes and wholly fanciful, nonexistent attributes' (Eschholz, 1982: 210).

4 STUDIES OF LANGUAGE ATIITUDES

The social context of language evaluation is very important because language is the main
instrument through which social interaction takes place. According to Ryan and Giles
(1982) there are three possible points of view from which language could be evaluated.
Language evaluation could either reflect intrinsic linguistic inferiorities or superiorities,
intrinsic aesthetic differences or social values and preferences.
The first possibility is refuted because of empirical evidence that all languages and
varieties of language are linguistically equal. No proof exists to support the notion of
greater aesthetic beauty in any specific language. Judgements regardmg the quality and
prestige of certain language varieties depend upon knowledge of the social connotatiom
of a variety for its speakers.

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4.1 Techniques

Semantic differential scales, observation, questionnaires and interviews are used to

assess attitudes. A technique that is widely used for the assessment of language attitudes
is the so-called 'matched guise' technique.

4.2 Results and implications of studies of students' language attitudes

Studies of students' language attitudes provide insight into the importance of language as
symbol of membership of a certain cultural or ethnic group. Trudgill (1983) points out
that language is a crucial factor that determines group identification and solidarity and
leads to greater emphasis on differences between two or more language varieties when
one language group is threatened by another. Teachers should be aware of the influence
of the wider social situation upon language learning and teaching.
Research was done to find whether a correlation exists between language attitudes,
performance in the second language, perseverance and class behaviour.
Some researchers (e.g. Bartley, 1970) found that students who have positive attitudes
towards the target language tend to have more perseverance, do not drop the language
learning course easily and also participate more freely in the class situation.
Language attitudes could play an important role in the motivation of second language
learners. When ESL learners are integrationally motivated, i.e. when they are interested
in learning about the English speaking community, they tend to become more proficient
in English than learners who are instrumentally motivated, i.e. learners who have to
learn the language for some functional purpose only (to pass an examination, for
instance). In the multicultural South Africa context teachers should be aware of the fact
that many ESL students are instrumentally motivated; they want to learn English in
order to study further, to qualify for certain jobs and to gain access to the international
community. If teachers could stimulate the interest of their students in the English-
speaking cultural community, the students' proficiency in English might improve.
The above findings support the view that the learning of a second language is part of a
greater acculturation process. Berry (1980) decribes four modes of acculturation, two of
which are relevant here. He suggests that integration involves identifying with the other
community while still valuing and retaining one's own cultural and ethnic heritage.
Assimilation is in my opinion not as healthy a mode of acculturation because it involves
identifying with the second language community while rejecting one's own. Berry's idea
of integration (like Lambert's [1974] concept of additive bilingualism) implies that a
second language learner can develop a high level of proficiency in the target language
while maintaining his own cultural identity.
Teachers of second or foreign languages should guard against treatment of second
language acquisition as involving identification with one group as opposed to another.
Should a student experience the learning of the target language as a threat to his ethnic
or cultural identity, his motivation to learn the language could feel aversion towards the
language learning situation and towards the target language itself. The standard dialect
that is taught could symbolize social values that oppose the values of the student. A
student might resist the social values associated with the target language to such an
extent that his learning of the target language could be impaired.
Some researchers propose that learning a second language could change the learner's
attitude towards that langua~e. According to them, success in the learning of the second
language could lead to identification with that langua~e community, which could lead to
change of the language attitude in a positive directiOn. Other studies did not render
similar results. Proof does exist, however, that contact with mother tongue speakers of

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the target language in an enjoyable, relaxed atmosphere could lead to positive change in
the language attitude and to diminished anxiety in the class situation.
Gardner (1988) suggests that it is probable that, just as attitudes and motivation
influence second lan~age acquisition, so could second language acquisition influence
attitudes and motivatwn. Several studies have suggested that
individuals' attitudes toward the other language community and the
language learning situation, and their level of motivation, among other
things, will influence their relative degree of success in learning the other
language. It is equally reasonable, however, that happy experiences in
language learning situations and success in learning the language will
foster positive attitudes and enhance motivation, while ne~ative
experiences and/or failure to do well could engender negative attitudes
and loss of motivation (Gardner 1988: 137).
Krashen's (1981) monitor model suggests that attitudes and motivation form part of a
student's 'affective filter' that influences the extent to which material presented to the
second language learner becomes input that contributes to the acquisition process.
Research has also demonstrated (Gardner et al., 1987) that attitudes and motivation
influence the retention of second language material largely because they affect the extent
to which individuals make use of the language after completion of the course.
Whatever the exact influence of attitudes and motivation might be, fact remains that
second language learning is a dynamic process in which all of the above causal variables
(and others) should be taken into account.

4.3 Results and implications of studies of teachers' language attitudes

Teachers are not and cannot be objective filters through which language teaching takes
place. Teachers have attitudes towards language varieties and culture groups and judge
the language usage of students (often subconsciously) on these grounds.
Stereotyping plays an important role in teachers' judgements of students' language usage
and proficiency. Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) found that teachers' expectations could
be manipulated by providing them with false information about the language proficiency
of the students. Williams (1974) found that teachers judge students' oral language use on
only two semantic differential scales, namely 'confidence - eagerness' and 'ethnicity -
non-standardness' (Fasold 1984). Stereotyped expectations re~arding the students' way of
expression and presentation often form the basis of teachers' judgements of the students'
language proficiency.
If the teacher is unaware of the fact that he/she is prejudiced towards speakers of certain
language varieties, the students' language learning process could be influenced
ne~atively. This could be even worse if the teacher holds the linguistically unfounded
opinion that speakers of 'non-standard' varieties are less intelligent than speakers of
'standard' varieties.
Such subjective judgement on the teacher's side could also have a negative influence on
the performance of the student. According to the 'self-fulfilling prophecy', people often
behave as others expect them to behave. Middle brook stresses the fact that 'if you are set
to see a particular behavior (sic) in someone else, you may - in subtle ways - act so that
the other person's behavior (sic) meets your expectations' (1980 : 171). This kind of
situation perpetuates the existence of stereotypes. If a student becomes aware of the fact
that his langua~e variety is seen as inferior, he might adjust his performance and his
perception of his own abilities to suit his teacher's negative perceptions and expectations.

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5 ATTITUDE CHANGE

'To change attitudes based on personal experience and social sources, the basic tactic is
to introduce information that IS inconsistent with the individual's present attitudes and
then make it difficult for the individual to dismiss the material' (Middlebrook,
1980: 198). Because stereotypes help people to organize and handle their worlds, they
are not easily changed. A change in one of the three components of an attitude could
exert pressure on the other two components of an attitude to change too. Evidence that
opposes a certain belief calls for change in the cognitive component of an attitude.
Should a person find that one of his beliefs is based upon incorrect or imcomplete
evidence, changes might take place in his emotions and behaviour too.
The so-called 'foot-in-the-door technique' could also be used in the language teaching
situation to change teachers' language attitudes. If teachers are confronted with evidence
of stereotyped judgements on their sides and could be persuaded to commit themselves
publicly to a more positive attitude, dissonance exists within the language attitude. The
teachers might now try to behave according to their new opinions. So much tension could
be caused within the attitude that the emotional component could also change in
accordance with the cognitive and behavioural components.
Language attitudes form part of one's ethnic and personal identity, which consists of a
system of interrelated attitudes. An attack on any one attitude in this interrelated
structure would threaten the whole structure and thus J?roduce an especially high level of
resistance' (Middlebrook 1980: 226). If an attempt IS made to change the language
attitudes of a group or an individual, care should be taken not to offend the target group.
An insensitive attempt to change a language attitude might polarize the initial attitude
and reinforce the stereotype.
Several studies in social psychology have proved that face to face persuasion is more
effective than J?ersuasion via the media (Middlebrook, 1980). This implies that the
teacher, if he IS a native speaker of the target language, could influence students'
language attitudes. He should also create opportunities for his students to communicate
with mother tongue speakers of the target language in a relaxed social situation. Personal
contact might provide the necessary evidence to overcome stereotypes towards linguistic
and culture groups.

6 CONCLUSION

Many writers have expressed the opinion that language attitudes cannot be changed
(Webb, 1979). Others feel more positive about the possibility of such changes: 'the
teacher needs to be aware that everyone has both positive and negative attitudes. The
negative attitudes can be changed' (Brown, 1987: 127). Personal contact between teacher
and student could provide the evidence to change stereotypes about language varieties
and cultural groups.
Teachers should be encouraged to have an attitude of acceptance of 'non-standard'
language varieties and speakers of such varieties. Of course it would be difficult to bring
about such an acute attitude change since such acceptance opposes the more rigid
didactics of language teaching that is taught to teacher students and that aims at
producing an identical group of speakers.
If students experience problems in the learning situation because they speak 'non-
standard' varieties of language, those problems are due to the negative attitudes of
society towards 'non-standard' language. Trudgill (1983) suggests that teachers should
teach students to read the 'standard' language but that teachers and the rest of society
should be educated to understand, tolerate and appreciate 'non-standard' varieties as
complex, sufficient and equivalent linguistic systems. Though this might seem to be an

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unattainable goal, a widespread community education programme might yield positive

results.
In this massive task the linguist, social psychologist and language teacher could perform
key roles.
Teachers can aid in disspelling what are often myths about other cultures,
and replace those myths with a realistic understanding of the other culture
as one that is different from one's own, yet to be respected and valued.
Learners can thus move through the hierarchy of affectivity ... through
awareness and responding, to valuing, and finally to an organized and
systematic understanding and appreciation of the foreign culture (Brown,
1987: 127).

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Martin's Press.
F ASOLD, R 1984. The sociolinguistics of society. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
GARDNER, RC. 1988. Attitudes and motivation. In: Annual review of applied linguistics,
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KRASHEN, S.D. 1981. Second language acquisition and second language learning.
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