Intellectual humility and language attitudes: the case of Hebrew speakers’ views towards Arabic and multilingualism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Intellectual humility (IH) remains a relatively novel concept, though past research indicates a relationship to open-mindedness, lower propensity towards political bias and amenability to engage with opposing viewpoints. Intellectual humility has shown mixed effects on foreign language learning (Moskowitz & Dewaele [2020]. The role of intellectual humility in foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6, 521–541.), though it has not been explored in relation to language attitudes. The current study investigates connections between IH and language attitudes among Hebrew L1 speakers. Treating multilingualism and Arabic as separate variables, a Hebrew survey was administered, adapted from the Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale (CIHS) (Krumrei-Mancuso & Rouse [2016]. The development and validation of the comprehensive intellectual humility scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 98(2), 209–221.) and a questionnaire on multilingualism (Tannenbaum et al. [2020]. Toward a new multilingual educational policy in Israel: Attitudes and perceptions of teachers and students. The Modern Language Journal, 104(3), 581–600.). Statistical analyses found that openness to revising one’s viewpoints predicted attitudes towards multilingualism, and respect for others’ viewpoints predicted attitudes towards Arabic. Qualitative data explored the charged topic of the status of Arabic in Israel, finding that responses contained themes of intellectual humility such as prosociality and respect for others’ viewpoints, lending support to the quantitative findings.