Intergroup language attitudes and their sources: The case of Tehrani and Jonoub-Shahri Tehrani
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v10i3.27057Keywords:
social identity theory, identification, language attitudes, outgroup, ingroup, Tehran (Iran)Abstract
The current study was aimed at investigating the language attitudes of Tehrani speakers (N = 188) toward an ingroup (Tehrani) and outgroup (JS Tehrani) variety. In doing so, a questionnaire of 10 scales was utilized. The 10 scales were later factor-analyzed into status, solidarity, and ethnic pride. Statistical analyses (i.e. ANOVA and Tukey) revealed that, firstly, each variety was rated differently across the 3 scales, and, on all three individual clusters, the two ingroup and outgroup varieties were judged differently. Whereas Tehrani was evaluated more favorably on status and ethnic pride scales, JS Tehrani was rated more positively on solidarity. The results were finally explained in light of the participants’ interview responses and sociocultural context of Tehran. The results of the present study might be useful in illustrating the under-explored area of language attitudes in Iran.References
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Brewer, M. B. (1999) The psychology of prejudice: Ingroup love or outgroup hate? Journal of Social Issues 55(3): 429–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00126.
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Dragojevic. M. and Giles, H. (2014) The reference frame effect: An intergroup perspective on language attitudes. Human Communication Research 40(1): 91–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/hcre.12017.
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Dyers, C. and Abongdia, J.-F. (2010) An exploration of the relationship between language attitudes and ideologies in a study of Francophone students of English in Cameroon. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 31(2): 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630903470837.
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Holmes, J. and Meyerhoff, M. (1999) The community of practice: theories and methodologies in language and gender research. Language in Society 28(2): 173–183. https://doi.org/10.1017/S004740459900202X.
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Paltridge, J. and Giles, H. (1984) Attitudes towards speakers of regional accents of French: Effects of regionality, age, and sex of listeners. Linguistiche Berichte 90: 71–85.
Preston, D. R. (1999) A language attitude approach to the perception of regional variety. In D. R. Preston (ed.) Handbook of Perceptual Dialectology 359–373. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.hpd1.30pre.
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Tajfel, H. (1978) Interindividual behavior and intergroup behavior. In H. Tajfel (ed.) Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations 27–60. London and New York: Academic Press.
Tajfel, H. and Turner J. C. (1986) The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel and W. G. Austin (eds) Psychology of intergroup relations 7–24. Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.
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Vaish, V. (2008) Language attitudes of urban disadvantaged female students in India: An ethnographic approach. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 29(3): 198–215. https://doi.org/10.2167/jmmd558.0.
Woolard, K. A. and Schieffelin B. B. (1994) Language ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology 23: 55–82. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.23.100194.000415.
Zhang, Q. (2005) A Chinese yuppie in Beijing: Phonological variation and the construction of a new professional identity. Language in Society 34(3): 431–466. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404505050153.
Bastani, S. (2007) Family comes ?rst: Men’s and women’s personal networks in Tehran. Social Networks 29(3): 357–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2007.01.004.
Bayat, A. (2011) Tehran: paradox city 1. Frontline: Tehran Bureau. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/01/tehran-paradox-city-1.html.
Bell, A. (1984) Language style as audience design. Language in Society 13(2): 145–204. https://doi.org/10.1017/S004740450001037X.
Blommaert, J. (2007) On scope and depth in linguistic ethnography. Journal of Sociolinguistics 11(5): 682–688. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00346.x.
Bresnahan, M. J., Ohashi, R., Nebashi, R., Liu, W. Y. and Morinaga Shearman, S. (2002) Attitudinal and affective response toward accented English. Language & Communication 22(2): 171–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(01)00025-8.
Brewer, M. B. (1999) The psychology of prejudice: Ingroup love or outgroup hate? Journal of Social Issues 55(3): 429–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00126.
Campbell-Kibler, K. (2008) I’ll be the judge of that: Diversity in social perceptions of (ING). Language in Society 37(5): 637–659. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404508080974.
Cargile, A. C. and Giles, H. (1998) Language attitudes toward varieties of English: An American?Japanese context. Journal of Applied Communication Research 26: 338–356.
Creese, A. (2008) Linguistic ethnography. In K. A. King and Nancy H. Hornberger (eds) Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Volume 10: Research Methods in Language and Education (2nd ed.) 229–241. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_257.
Dragojevic. M. and Giles, H. (2014) The reference frame effect: An intergroup perspective on language attitudes. Human Communication Research 40(1): 91–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/hcre.12017.
Dragojevic, M., Giles, H. and Watson, B. M. (2013) Language ideologies and language attitudes: A foundational framework. In H. Giles and B. M. Watson (eds) The Social meanings of language, dialect, and accent: International perspectives on speech styles 1–25. New York: Peter Lang.
Dyers, C. and Abongdia, J.-F. (2010) An exploration of the relationship between language attitudes and ideologies in a study of Francophone students of English in Cameroon. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 31(2): 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630903470837.
Giles, H. and Marlow, M. L. (2011) Theorizing language attitudes: Existing frameworks, an integrative model, and new directions. Communication Yearbook 35: 161–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2011.11679116.
Hashemi, M., Hojjati, A., Nikravan, F. and Shariati Feizabadi, M. (2013) The comparison of socio-economic status of families and social support of parents for the physical exercises of their children. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences 82: 375–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.278.
Heaton, H. and Nygaard L. C. (2011) Charm or harm: Effect of passage content on listener attitudes toward American English accents. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 30(2): 202–211. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X10397288.
Hogg, M. A. and Reid S. A. (2007) Social identity, self-categorization, and the communication of group norms. Communication Theory 16(1): 7–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00003.x.
Holmes, J. and Meyerhoff, M. (1999) The community of practice: theories and methodologies in language and gender research. Language in Society 28(2): 173–183. https://doi.org/10.1017/S004740459900202X.
Irvine, J. T. (2001) Style as distinctiveness: The culture and ideology of linguistic differentiation. In P. Eckert and J. R. Rickford (eds) Style and sociolinguistic variation 21–43. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lambert, W. E. (1967) The social psychology of bilingualism. Journal of Social Issues 23(2): 91–109. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1967.tb00578.x.
Lippi-Green, R. (2011) English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Madanipour, A. (1998) Tehran: The making of a metropolis. Chichester: John Wiley.
Madanipour, A. (1999) City pro?le: Tehran. Cities 16(1): 57–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-2751(98)00045-6.
McCall, G. J. and Simmons J. L. (1978) Identities and interactions: An examination of human associations in everyday life. New York: Free Press.
Nercissians, E. (2001) Bilingualism and diglossia: Patterns of language use by ethnic minorities in Tehran. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 148: 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2001.014.
Paltridge, J. and Giles, H. (1984) Attitudes towards speakers of regional accents of French: Effects of regionality, age, and sex of listeners. Linguistiche Berichte 90: 71–85.
Preston, D. R. (1999) A language attitude approach to the perception of regional variety. In D. R. Preston (ed.) Handbook of Perceptual Dialectology 359–373. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.hpd1.30pre.
Ryan, E. B., Giles, H. and Sebastian R. J. (1982) An integrated perspective for the study of attitudes toward language variation. In E. B. Ryan and H. Giles (eds) Attitudes towards language variation: Social and applied contexts 1–19. London: Edward Arnold.
Saeli, H. (forthcoming) Tehrani people’s attitudes toward accented Persian: Impact of gender, age, and education level. The International Multilingual Research Journal [Advance online publication]
Stets, J. E. and Burke P. J. (2000) Identity theory and social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly 63(3): 224–237. https://doi.org/10.2307/2695870.
Tajfel, H. (1978) Interindividual behavior and intergroup behavior. In H. Tajfel (ed.) Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations 27–60. London and New York: Academic Press.
Tajfel, H. and Turner J. C. (1986) The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel and W. G. Austin (eds) Psychology of intergroup relations 7–24. Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.
Tehran (n.d.) Tehran, political situation. Retrieved from http://en.tehran.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=98.
Turner, J. C., Hogg M. M., Oakes P. J., Reicher S. D. and Wetherell M. S. (1987) Rediscovering the social group: A Self-Categorization Theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
Tusting, K. and Maybin, M. (2007) Linguistic ethnography and interdisciplinarity: Opening the discussion. Journal of Sociolinguistics 11(5): 575–583. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00340.x.
Vaish, V. (2008) Language attitudes of urban disadvantaged female students in India: An ethnographic approach. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 29(3): 198–215. https://doi.org/10.2167/jmmd558.0.
Woolard, K. A. and Schieffelin B. B. (1994) Language ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology 23: 55–82. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.23.100194.000415.
Zhang, Q. (2005) A Chinese yuppie in Beijing: Phonological variation and the construction of a new professional identity. Language in Society 34(3): 431–466. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404505050153.
Published
2017-01-20
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Articles
How to Cite
Saeli, H. (2017). Intergroup language attitudes and their sources: The case of Tehrani and Jonoub-Shahri Tehrani. Sociolinguistic Studies, 10(3), 409-431. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v10i3.27057
