Different beliefs: beliefs and the maintenance of a minority language

John Gibbons, Elizabeth Ramirez

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    20 Citations (Scopus)

    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 languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)99-117
    Number of pages19
    JournalJournal of Language and Social Psychology
    Volume23
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2004

    Keywords

    • Attitudes
    • Australia
    • Bilingualism
    • Maintenance
    • Spanish

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