ERIC Number: ED612407
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2329-2210
EISSN: N/A
Chinese Students' Attitudes toward African American Standard and Vernacular English
Chmarkh, Mustapha
Online Submission, International Journal of Society, Culture, and Language v9 n1 p1-13 2021
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first sociolinguistic matched-guise experiment that examined Chinese students' attitudes toward African American English in both its standard and vernacular variants. This pilot study explored Chinese students' implicit bias--if any--toward African American English compared to white American English. For this purpose, seventy-two undergraduate Chinese students pursuing their studies in the US rated standard and vernacular English recordings of a White American female speaker and an African American female speaker. To optimize the validity of this experiment, two non-guises were included as distractors. The findings suggest that the participants held a more positive attitude toward White American English. Interestingly, female respondents rated the African American guise slightly higher than their male counterparts. Finally, when the African American speaker's teaching-related traits were rated, participants favored the standard over the vernacular recording. In sum: the findings suggest that respondents might have an existing/emerging implicit bias toward the African American speaker.
Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Language Attitudes, Sociolinguistics, Positive Attitudes, North American English, Whites, Asians, Social Bias, Comparative Analysis, Audio Equipment, Validity, Gender Differences, Undergraduate Students, Foreign Students, Writing Instruction, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A