Attitudes towards Multicultural London English: implications for attitude theory and language planning

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe study presented here is the first empirical investigation of attitudes towards Multicultural London English (MLE), the multiethnolect spoken in England’s main metropolis. An online questionnaire was used to gather data from 800 participants, including MLE speakers as well as non-MLE speakers from a wide variety of different backgrounds. The results indicate that the traditional dichotomy of status and solidarity as distinct evaluative dimensions does not manifest in attitudes towards MLE. We discuss the implications this would have for attitude theory, provided that this finding holds true for other multiethnolects.The results also indicate that overall, attitudes towards MLE are affected by (1) individuals’ own variety of English, (2) their mother tongue(s), (3) their level of education, and (4) the frequency of their contact with MLE speakers. We interpret the effect of these variables to be due to (1) ingroup loyalty, (2) familiarity with social stereotypes, (3) enhanced reasoning skills, and (4) the reduction of stereotypes through intergroup contact. We discuss the implications these findings – should they generalise to the London population at large – would have for the development of effective language planning measures to promote social equality for multiethnolect speakers.