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Part of
New Approaches to Language Attitudes in the Hispanic and Lusophone World
Edited by Talia Bugel and Cecilia Montes-Alcalá
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 25] 2020
► pp. 39–60

Perceptual attitudes towards Spanish in the Panhandle of West Virginia

| Shepherd University

This study contributes to the ongoing discussion of perceptions of and attitudes towards Spanish by native English speakers in the U.S. (e.g., Fuller, 2013; Lippi-Green, 2012; Orozco & Dorado, 2014) and examines the image of Spanish speakers in a small community in the Panhandle of West Virginia. The responses from the 445 participants indicate a juxtaposition between high prestige accorded to Spanish spoken in Spain and varieties of Spanish spoken in the Americas. The responses underline the influence of underlying language ideologies (e.g., Garret, 2010; Irvine & Gal, 2000), popular negative imagery of non-European varieties (e.g., Fuller, 2013; Lippi-Green, 2012; Lipski, 2002), and Eurocentrism, in other words, a preference for European history, languages, and cultures (e.g., Franzki, 2012; Quijano, 2000).

Keywords: perceptions, attitudes, Spanish, language ideologies
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • Social evaluations of Spanish in the U.S.
    • The sociolinguistic setting of the present study
  • The present study
    • Materials
    • Participants
    • Procedure
    • Analysis
  • Results and discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 30 April 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.25.02sua
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