Standard Modern Greek and Greek-Cypriot dialect in kindergarten classroom interaction: teachers' and learners' language attitudes and language use

Abstract

This study investigates language use and language attitudes in state kindergarten education in Cyprus. Kindergarten education is the primary setting where Greek-Cypriots learn to employ the standard variety on a systematic basis. Consequently, the context of kindergarten education is a principal setting for examining language attitudes and language variation. Specifically, this study examines whether teachers' ambiguities regarding language use exist in kindergarten education as in other levels of formal education and whether at the age of kindergarten education children's language attitudes towards the standard and non-standard varieties begin to develop. The data gathered via class observations and teacher interviews suggest that teacher ambiguities do seem to exist in relation to the use of the two varieties in the classroom and children do distinguish between the two language varieties, as they employ these on different speaking occasions in the classroom with their peers and teachers.