Videotaped discussions (among in-group or out-group members) promoting integrative or instrumental benefits of learningEuropean orAsian languages were presented randomly to participants who subsequently rated several Asian and European languages. Responses from 176 English schoolchildren (males and females, 13 years old) on measures of self-reported contact, identification, perceived status and demographic vitality, desire to learn, and integrative and instrumental value of languages were analyzed. As expected, perceptions were consistently more positive about European (especially when promoted by in-group) than Asian languages (especially when promoted by out-group). Promotion of instrumental benefits of European languages accentuated these differences, whereas in-group promotion of Asian languages attenuated existing differences. Self-categorisation and social identification processes are discussed to explain the findings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bourhis, R. Y., & Sachdev, I. (1984). Vitality perceptions and language attitudes: Some Canadian data. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 3, 97-126.
2.
Brown, R., & lurner, J. (1981). Interpersonal and intergroup behaviour. In J. lurner & H. Giles (Eds.), Intergroup behaviour (pp. 33-65). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
3.
Bullock, A. (1975). A language for life. London: HMSO.
4.
Census. (1991). Office of Population Censuses and Surveys: Report on Great Britain. London: HMSO.
5.
Clement, R., & Kruidenier, B. G. (1983). Orientations in second language acquisition: The effects of ethnicity, milieu, and target language on their emergence. Language Learning, 33, 273-291.
6.
Edwards, J. (1994). Multilingualism. London: Routledge.
7.
Edwards, V., & Alladina, S. (1991). Many people, many tongues. In S. Alladina & V. Edwards (Eds.), Multilingualism in the British Isles (pp. 1-30). London: Longman.
8.
Edwards, V., & Redfern, A. (1992). The world in a classroom: Language in education in Britain and Canada. Clevedon, Avon, United Kingdom: Multilingual Matters.
9.
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
10.
Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W E. (1959). Motivational variables in second-language learning. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 13, 266-272.
11.
Gardner, R. C., & Lambert W. E. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in second language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
12.
Giles, H., & Byrne, J. (1982). An intergroup approach to second language acquisition. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 3, 17-40.
13.
Harwood, J., Giles, H., & Bourhis, R. Y. (1994). The genesis of vitality theory: Historical patterns and discoursal dimensions. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 108, 167-206.
14.
Hawkins, E. (1984). Awareness of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
15.
Hogg, M. A. (1992). The social psychology of group cohesiveness: From attraction to social identity. Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
16.
Hogg, M. A., & Abrams, D. (1993). Ibwards a single-process uncertainty-reduction model of social motivation in groups. In D. Abrams & M. Hogg (Eds.), Group motivation: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 173-190). Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
17.
Hogg, M. A., & Turner, J. C. (1987). Social identity and conformity: A theory of referent informational influence. In W Doise & S. Moscovici (Eds.), Current issues in European social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 139-182). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18.
Jones, A. P. (1989). Language awareness in British schools. In J. Cheshire, V. Edwards, H. Munstermann, & B. Weltens (Eds.), Dialect and education: Some European perspectives (pp. 269-281). Clevedon, Avon, United Kingdom: Multilingual Matters.
19.
Mercer, L. (1981). Ethnicity and the supplementary school. In N. Mercer (Ed.), Language in school and community (pp. 147-160). London: Edward Arnold.
20.
Pattanayak, D. P. (1987). Multilingualism and multiculturalism: Britain and India. London: Occasional Paper No. 1, University of London Institute of Education, International Association for Intercultural Education.
21.
Sachdev, I., & Bourhis, R. Y. (1990). Language and social identification. In D. Abrams & M. Hogg (Eds.), Social identity theory: Constructive and critical advances (pp. 101-124). Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
22.
Sachdev, I., & Bourhis, R. Y. (1993). Ethnolinguistic vitality and social identity. In D. Abrams & M. Hogg (Eds.), Group motivation: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 33-51). Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
23.
Storkey, M. (1994). London's ethnic minorities: One city, many communities. London: London Research Centre.
24.
Stubbs, M. (1985). Linguistic minorities project, the other languages of England. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
25.
Swann, L. (1985). Education for all. London: HMSO.
26.
Townsend, H. (1971). Immigrants in England: The LEA response. Windsor, England: National Foundation for Educational Research.
27.
Turner, J. C. (1991). Social influence. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
28.
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
