Abstract
This article examines Spanish maintenance in a group of Hispanic teenagers in Sydney. In particular, it looks at the relationship between various attitude clusters and the development/maintenance of various aspects of proficiency. Both open and closed items were used, which permitted the emergence of unexpected attitude clusters. The proficiency measures examined a range of aspects of proficiency. Beliefs in favor of bilingualism and a determination to resist the hegemony of the dominant language are significantly related to proficiency, as well as the more familiar affect, pride, status and instrumental beliefs. Vitality beliefs concerning Spanish in the local community seem to be relatively unimportant. Clusters of beliefs are also found to be related to different aspects of proficiency.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 99-117 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | Journal of Language and Social Psychology |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2004 |
Keywords
- Attitudes
- Australia
- Bilingualism
- Maintenance
- Spanish