Does language awareness foster social tolerance?

Abstract

Language Awareness (LA) programmes are often implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, assumed to aid in the promotion of intercultural tolerance. Drawing on sociopsychological theory and research on intergroup relations, it is argued that awareness should not necessarily lead to tolerance. In an exploratory study, 253 westcoast American students’ general responses to LA issues are investigated in relation to their own self‐reported LA and tolerance levels. In general, the findings only reflected extremely modest and uncertain relationships between LA and tolerance. Consequently, insights gleaned from intergroup relations (as well as accommodation processes) may serve as valuable resources for the development and refinement of LA programmes.