"Your French Makes You Sound Smart': Children's and Adults' Attitudes Towards Speakers of French Dialects in Alberta

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Marchak, Kristan

• SSHRC IDG awarded 2021: The study of language attitudes and their development is an interdisciplinary field of research, at the intersection of psychology, sociolinguistics, and speech-language pathology. To examine attitudes towards French dialects, we formed an interdisciplinary team with complementary scientific expertise who embody the diversity of Canadian Francophonie. Together, we developed two studies to measure implicit attitudes about speakers of French dialects commonly heard in Alberta. In each study, we compare children’s (5- to 12-year olds) and adults’ responses in order to explore the developmental trajectory by which attitudes are acquired. We present participants with pairs of audio clips from speakers of different dialects saying the same thing and ask them to make a series of judgements about the two speakers.

• Date created

  2021-02-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Insight Development Grant
  • IDG
  • SSHRC
  • Attitudes
  • Dialects
  • French
  • Psychology
  • Sociolinguistics
  • Child Development
  • Alberta
  • Immigration
  • Official Language Minority Community
  • Child and Adolescent Psychology
  • Linguistics
  • Children
  • Communication
  • Immigration
  • Western Canada
  • Canada
  • Alberta

• Type of Item

  Research Material

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-p2aw-rj48

• License

  ©️Marchak, Kristan. All rights reserved other than by permission. This document embargoed to those without UAlberta CCID until 2025.