Influences in the Development of Children's Language Attitudes

Abstract

Abstract The study focuses on factors which influence the attitudes of children toward standard and nonstandard language varieties. In a multicultural rural community in Hawaii where communicative competence includes to varying degrees a knowledge of both standard English and Hawaii Creole English, data were collected to measure the following : language attitudes of 68 kindergarten and first grade children, the fluency of these children in standard English and Hawaii Creole English, and language attitudes of the parents of the children. Multiple regression analyses of the data indicate the following : no significant effect of parent attitudes on those of a child; the relaÂtive importance of ethnic background and length of residence in the speech community; sex as an important variable in determining language perceptions; a tendency to greater preference for a dialect as profiÂciency in it increases.