Attitudes to accents
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Alexei Prikhodkine
Abstract
This chapter looks at the processes involved in the development of the attitudes to voices. After outlining the main outcomes – and their social issues – of different research traditions related to language regard studies (such as language attitude research, language ideology analysis), it goes on to survey the recent findings that focus on the complexity and the variability of the responses to language varieties. Thereafter, the text discusses to what extent this focus on complexity conforms to the social constructivist turn in social sciences, namely how current research deals with non-essentialist assumptions and non-fixity of meanings. Finally, the chapter critically addresses the agency attributed to social actors in meaning making and examines findings that show the importance of legitimacy issues to the interpretation of attitudes to accents and make explicit the political dimension in the use of language resources as well as in the regard on them.
Abstract
This chapter looks at the processes involved in the development of the attitudes to voices. After outlining the main outcomes – and their social issues – of different research traditions related to language regard studies (such as language attitude research, language ideology analysis), it goes on to survey the recent findings that focus on the complexity and the variability of the responses to language varieties. Thereafter, the text discusses to what extent this focus on complexity conforms to the social constructivist turn in social sciences, namely how current research deals with non-essentialist assumptions and non-fixity of meanings. Finally, the chapter critically addresses the agency attributed to social actors in meaning making and examines findings that show the importance of legitimacy issues to the interpretation of attitudes to accents and make explicit the political dimension in the use of language resources as well as in the regard on them.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- The pragmatics of accents 1
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Part 1. Ideologies of accents in national contexts
- Attitudes to accents 19
- Urban youth accents in France 41
- Encountering accented others – and selves – in provincial Japan 63
- ‘Could I have an appointment for a viewing?’ 85
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Part 2. Accents in second language education teaching and learning
- The pragmatic force of second language accent in education 117
- A lack of phonological inherentness 141
- English-language attitudes and identities in Spain 163
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Part 3. Accents in the media and the workplace
- From I’m the One That I Want to Kim’s Convenience 189
- Divine intervention 205
- In the ear of the beholder 229
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Concluding remarks
- From sound to social meaning 247
- Index 263
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- The pragmatics of accents 1
-
Part 1. Ideologies of accents in national contexts
- Attitudes to accents 19
- Urban youth accents in France 41
- Encountering accented others – and selves – in provincial Japan 63
- ‘Could I have an appointment for a viewing?’ 85
-
Part 2. Accents in second language education teaching and learning
- The pragmatic force of second language accent in education 117
- A lack of phonological inherentness 141
- English-language attitudes and identities in Spain 163
-
Part 3. Accents in the media and the workplace
- From I’m the One That I Want to Kim’s Convenience 189
- Divine intervention 205
- In the ear of the beholder 229
-
Concluding remarks
- From sound to social meaning 247
- Index 263
