The role of speaker identification in Korean university students' attitudes towards five varieties of English

• Cheongmin Yook ^[1] ; Stephanie Lindermann ^[2]
  1. [1] Keimyung University

     Keimyung University

     Corea del Sur

     
  2. [2] Georgia State University

     Georgia State University

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, ISSN 0143-4632, Vol. 34, Nº. 3, 2013, págs. 279-296
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This study investigates how the attitudes of 60 Korean university students towards five varieties of English are affected by the identification of the speaker's nationality and ethnicity. The study employed both a verbal guise technique and questions eliciting overt beliefs and preferences related to learning English. While the majority of the students stated that American English was the variety that should be taught and learned in Korea, this preference did not necessarily extend to ratings of an American speaker unless they were informed of her nationality. Listeners who were informed about the nationality/ethnicity of the speakers tended to rate European-American and Korean English speakers higher and British and African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) speakers lower than did listeners who were not informed. Listeners who were asked to guess speakers' ethnicities often identified the AAVE speaker as being from a non-Inner Circle country, suggesting that stigmatised native accents are not very salient to this group; Australian English was also not salient. The finding that speaker identification plays a role in the evaluation of a variety has implications for the interpretation of verbal guise studies and suggests the need for more research into how listeners evaluate speakers in everyday situations when they typically know more about the speaker.