Reference no: EM133189757

First, research language attitudes outside of the United States. Then choose a language/dialect outside of the United States and research the attitudes that exist about that language/dialect.

The questions you should address in the research paper are as follows:

1. Provide background information about this language. For example, how many first-language speakers of the language are there? What parts of the world is it spoken in? Who speaks it? Is it commonly spoken as a second language/dialect? Who speaks it as a second language/dialect, and where is it spoken?
2. What attitudes exist about this language/dialect? What are some things different people might say about it? Give some examples.
3. Why might this language/dialect be perceived in different ways in different areas or contexts? Provide examples of the linguistic differences, such as phonological, lexical, and grammatical differences that may exist.
4. What social factors do you think are associated with attitudes that people have towards this language/dialect? Racial? Socioeconomic class? Cultural? Education? Ethnic? Sexual or gender identity association? Physical/mental impairment? Anything else? Explain why any of these might contribute to people's attitudes towards the language/dialect.
5. Why did you select this language/dialect?

If you need help choosing a language/dialect to focus on, you may investigate one of those below, or you may investigate one of your own choosing. Some suggested examples include:

• South African Bantu speakers as perceived by White South Africans
• South African Afrikaans speakers as perceived by Black South Africans
• Quebec French speakers as perceived by Parisian French
• British Cockney English speakers as perceived by upper-class British
• Cantonese speakers as perceived by Mandarin Chinese speakers
• North Korean speakers as perceived by South Koreans
• Saami speakers as perceived by Finns and Norwegians
• Oromo speakers' attitudes towards other (minority) language speakers in Eritrea
• Amaric speakers' attitudes towards Tigrinya speakers in Eritrea
• Basque speakers as perceived by Spaniards
• Hutu Bantu speakers and Tutsi Bantu speakers' attitudes towards each other

Next, follow the global consideration of language use and attitudes by connecting it to your own relationship with the language/dialect you speak. Whether we consider our dialect to be "good" or "bad," prestige or stigmatized forms of speech, the fact is that we all have opinions about language that shape our views about different people. Write the reflection that describes the attitudes that you and others have about your dialect. If you speak more than one language, choose only one of these languages to focus on.

Finally, to complete the discussion of a global and local language use, think about the language attitudes that you wrote about in both parts of this research paper and discuss the following in your conclusion:

• how people perceive others based on how they speak
• how these attitudes might be another way in which various forms of discrimination continue to occur
• the steps you can take to counter these perceptions and prejudices