This talk details the findings of a recent study (McKenzie & Carrie, 2018; McKenzie & McNeil, under contract) employing instruments adapted from Social Psychology - an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and self-report attitude scale - to measure the relationship between 90 Newcastle-based English nationals' implicit and explicit ratings of Northern English and Southern English speech. Multivariate analysis demonstrated a significant implicit-explicit attitude discrepancy (IED), providing evidence of language attitude change in progress (Charlesworth & Banaji, 2019), led by younger females, with explicit attitudes changing more rapidly towards a greater tolerance, if not unreserved approval, of forms of English spoken in the north of England. The study findings are discussed in relation to the potential changing status of Northern and Southern English speech in the north of England. Further discussion is offered with regard to the potential benefits of employing implicit and explicit attitude measures to investigate more deeply embedded linguistic prejudice and, relatedly, to help determine any language attitude change and micro-level language change underway within specific communities.
Bibliography:
Charlesworth, T.E.S. and M.R. Banaji (2019) Patterns of implicit and explicit attitudes: 1. Long-termchange and stability from 2007 to 2016. Psychological Science 30(2): 830-844.
McKenzie, R.M. and E. Carrie (2018) Implicit-explicit attitudinal discrepancy and the investigation of language attitude change in progress. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 39(9): 174-192.
McKenzie, R.M., & McNeil, A. (under contract). Implicit and explicit language attitudes: Mapping accent discrimination and attitude change in England. London: Routledge.
* The financial support provided by a 12-month British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship awarded to Robert McKenzie (Reference: MD20\200009) to fund this study is gratefully acknowledged.