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Abstract

Abstract

This paper reports on an Implicit Association Test (IAT)-based investigation of the language-attitudes of the white (Afrikaans and English) speech-communities of South Africa, with a focus on young, L1-Afrikaans speakers. Drawing from an extensive literature review, two hypotheses were formulated: (1) participants would exhibit out-group bias towards Standard South African English over Afrikaans-accented English; (2) contextually relevant socio-demographic and sociolinguistic factors would explain this bias. Contrary to the first hypothesis, L1-Afrikaans speakers showed an implicit bias towards their in-group accent. G and emerged as significant factors in explaining these results. More specifically, females were found to show significantly more in-group bias than males, while subjects reporting both English and Afrikaans as family languages showed the most in-group bias. Given that the outcomes from this implicit approach provide new insights, further research into the role of gender and language-loyalty within this speech-community through narrative-based elicitation methods is recommended.

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2025-04-22
2025-05-22

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/content/journals/10.1075/eww.24025.alv
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Implicit language attitudes among young, white, L1-Afrikaans speakers towards two South African Englishes
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.24025.alv
/content/journals/10.1075/eww.24025.alv
/content/journals/10.1075/eww.24025.alv
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: language attitudes ; indirect methods ; Implicit Association Test ; in-group bias ; family language ; Afrikaans, gender ; South African English ; South Africa

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