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Sociodemographic, psychological and politico-cultural correlates in Flemish students' attitude toward French and English

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Date

2005

Authors

Dewaele, Jean-Marc

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Multilingual Matters & Channel View Publications

Abstract

An analysis of 100 Flemish high-school students' attitudes towards French and English (both foreign languages) revealed complex links etween personality factors, gender, politicocultural identity, communicative behaviour and foreign language attitudes. Attitudes towards English were found to be much more positive than those towards French, despite the fact that the participants had enjoyed a longer and more intense formal instruction in French (it being their second language). The independent variables were found to have stronger effects for French than for English, with the exception of politicocultural identity of the participant, which had a strong effect on attitudes towards French but not English. Overall, it seems that social factors, including exposure to the foreign languages, are linked with lowerlevel personality dimensions and thus shape attitudes towards these languages.

Description

Keywords

French as a Foreign Language, English as a Foreign Language, Belgium, Language Attitudes, Foreign Language Acquisition

Citation

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 26(2): 118-137