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14 How linguistically tolerant or insecure are school-aged children? A matched-guise, gamified approach for 6- to 12-year-olds in Canada

  • Stefan Dollinger , Vanessa Chan , Kate Pasula and Anthony Maag
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Acquisition and Variation in World Englishes
This chapter is in the book Acquisition and Variation in World Englishes

Abstract

Children in Canada, a highly multicultural nation, are exposed to a variety of accented speech. This study examines the linguistic tolerance of 6- to 12-yearold children in Canada. A gamified and matched-guise approach to the written questionnaire method allows attitudinal insights for this young school-age group when their results are compared with those of young and mature adults. We test whether the respondents’ multilingualism and age indicate differing sociolinguistic attitudes, judgements, and assessments of accented speech. The results show that the Standard Canadian English accent is preferred across all age cohorts. Counter to expectations, multilingual speakers are among the least tolerant of non-native accented speech which is consistent with the concept of linguistic insecurity (Preston 2013b). In terms of age cohorts, we found that 8- to 9-year-olds are more likely to be the least tolerant of all age groups. By contrast, children 7 years of age consistently proved to be the most linguistically tolerant as they rated the various accents highest for the attributes of “friendly,” “interesting,” “smart,” and “right (correct)”.

Abstract

Children in Canada, a highly multicultural nation, are exposed to a variety of accented speech. This study examines the linguistic tolerance of 6- to 12-yearold children in Canada. A gamified and matched-guise approach to the written questionnaire method allows attitudinal insights for this young school-age group when their results are compared with those of young and mature adults. We test whether the respondents’ multilingualism and age indicate differing sociolinguistic attitudes, judgements, and assessments of accented speech. The results show that the Standard Canadian English accent is preferred across all age cohorts. Counter to expectations, multilingual speakers are among the least tolerant of non-native accented speech which is consistent with the concept of linguistic insecurity (Preston 2013b). In terms of age cohorts, we found that 8- to 9-year-olds are more likely to be the least tolerant of all age groups. By contrast, children 7 years of age consistently proved to be the most linguistically tolerant as they rated the various accents highest for the attributes of “friendly,” “interesting,” “smart,” and “right (correct)”.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. 1 The current role of children and adolescents in World Englishes research 1
  4. Part I: Language in the family
  5. 2 Language among Trinidadian-heritage children raised in diaspora 13
  6. 3 Language use patterns and strategies for children’s English language development: Insights from Chinese descendant mothers in multilingual Malaysia 37
  7. 4 Family language policies in Thailand: Multiliteracy practices and Global Englishes 59
  8. 5 Parental language ideologies and children’s language use in Singapore – raising speakers of “Standard” English? 83
  9. Part II: Language acquisition and language learning in multilingual contexts
  10. 6 Syntactic and lexical complexity in CLIL and EFL written production: Evidence for ELF as a WEs paradigm in Turkey 111
  11. 7 Investigating child language acquisition from a joint perspective: A comparison of traditional and new L1 speakers of English 133
  12. 8 Speech rhythm in Cameroon English: A cross-generational study 159
  13. 9 From second to first language: Language shift in Singapore and Ireland 177
  14. Part III: Attitudes and identity
  15. 10 Children’s language attitudes in a World Englishes community: A focus on St. Kitts 205
  16. 11 Youth identity as linguistic identity: Political engagement and language acquisition and use in Hong Kong 227
  17. 12 Varieties of English and Third Culture Kids in Hong Kong 255
  18. 13 Variation and change in the NURSE vowel in Trinidadian English: An apparent-time analysis of adolescent and adult speakers 279
  19. 14 How linguistically tolerant or insecure are school-aged children? A matched-guise, gamified approach for 6- to 12-year-olds in Canada 307
  20. 15 Caught between languages and cultures: Exploring linguistic and cultural identity among Maldivian adolescents 335
  21. Part IV: Summary and discussion
  22. 16 Conclusion and envoi: Language acquisition at the intersection of sociolinguistics and World Englishes research 361
  23. Index 379
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110733723-014

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. 1 The current role of children and adolescents in World Englishes research 1
  4. Part I: Language in the family
  5. 2 Language among Trinidadian-heritage children raised in diaspora 13
  6. 3 Language use patterns and strategies for children’s English language development: Insights from Chinese descendant mothers in multilingual Malaysia 37
  7. 4 Family language policies in Thailand: Multiliteracy practices and Global Englishes 59
  8. 5 Parental language ideologies and children’s language use in Singapore – raising speakers of “Standard” English? 83
  9. Part II: Language acquisition and language learning in multilingual contexts
  10. 6 Syntactic and lexical complexity in CLIL and EFL written production: Evidence for ELF as a WEs paradigm in Turkey 111
  11. 7 Investigating child language acquisition from a joint perspective: A comparison of traditional and new L1 speakers of English 133
  12. 8 Speech rhythm in Cameroon English: A cross-generational study 159
  13. 9 From second to first language: Language shift in Singapore and Ireland 177
  14. Part III: Attitudes and identity
  15. 10 Children’s language attitudes in a World Englishes community: A focus on St. Kitts 205
  16. 11 Youth identity as linguistic identity: Political engagement and language acquisition and use in Hong Kong 227
  17. 12 Varieties of English and Third Culture Kids in Hong Kong 255
  18. 13 Variation and change in the NURSE vowel in Trinidadian English: An apparent-time analysis of adolescent and adult speakers 279
  19. 14 How linguistically tolerant or insecure are school-aged children? A matched-guise, gamified approach for 6- to 12-year-olds in Canada 307
  20. 15 Caught between languages and cultures: Exploring linguistic and cultural identity among Maldivian adolescents 335
  21. Part IV: Summary and discussion
  22. 16 Conclusion and envoi: Language acquisition at the intersection of sociolinguistics and World Englishes research 361
  23. Index 379
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