Robert M. McKenzie | Northumbria University (original) (raw)

Papers and Monographs by Robert M. McKenzie

Implicit and Explicit Language Attitudes: Mapping Linguistic Prejudice and Attitude Change in England, 2023

This timely volume constitutes the first book-length account of implicit as well as explicit lang... more This timely volume constitutes the first book-length account of implicit as well as explicit language attitudes. It details the findings of a large-scale study, incorporating cutting-edge implicit and self-report instruments adapted from social psychology, investigating the evaluations of over 300 English nationals of the status and social attractiveness of Northern English and Southern English speech in England. The book is unique in its examination of implicit-explicit attitude divergence, across a range of social factors, to identify the direction of language attitude change in progress and the particular social groups leading attitude change. The volume provides a comprehensive understanding of language-based prejudice in England and the study paves the way for researchers to employ newly developed implicit and explicit measures to investigate language attitudes and language attitude change in a range of contexts. This book is invaluable for researchers in sociolinguistics and applied linguists interested in theoretical and methodological aspects of linguistic prejudice and language variation and change. It is also essential reading for social psychologists with an interest in attitudes, attitude change and prejudice.

Chapter 5 offers an extensive critical discussion of the study findings in relation to the seven hypotheses introduced earlier in the book. It begins with a comprehensive discussion of central theme of this book: English nationals' implicit and explicit attitudes towards Northern English and Southern English speech in terms of status and social attractiveness. There then follows a discussion of the influence of the selected individual differences investigated upon the English nationals' implicit and explicit attitudes. The chapter continues with an in-depth examination of the relationship between the participants' implicit and explicit evaluations, with a particular focus on any evidence of implicit-explicit attitudinal discrepancy (IED). From the evidence uncovered, this section considers the direction of, and the specific groups who may leading, language attitude change in progress in England. Moreover, in light of the study findings, the chapter considers the methodological and theoretical value of the study for (socio)linguists and (social) psychologists. Finally, a discussion of the study limitations and suggestions for future research, both inside and outwith England, is offered.

The focus of this presentation is UK university students’ perceptions of English language diversi... more The focus of this presentation is UK university students’ perceptions of English language diversity and specifically concentrates upon their attitudes towards Japanese, ‘local’ and other Asian forms of speech. For UK students, ‘local’ forms of English refers to those varieties which are spoken within and near the Newcastle area, situated in the north-east of England, i.e., samples of Scottish English and Tyneside English are presented in the study.

The Japanese Society for Language Sciences (JSLS) Conference Handbook 2013 , Oct 19, 2013

This large-scale quantitative study, employing both implicit and explicit attitude measures, inve... more This large-scale quantitative study, employing both implicit and explicit attitude measures, investigated 127 Japanese university students' perceptions of UK, US, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Indian English speech. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that implicit evaluations of Japanese, UK and US English speech were significantly more positive when compared to the other Asian forms of English under consideration, on both status and social attractiveness dimensions. When questioned explicitly, informants were generally unfavourable towards 'International English'. The findings are discussed in relation to the relationship between explicit and implicit language attitudes as well as levels of acceptance amongst Japanese students of particular groups of English speakers and, in turn, speculates upon the potential success of the internationalisation agenda within Japanese Higher Education more broadly.

Previous language attitude research indicates that presenting speech forms allows listeners to in... more Previous language attitude research indicates that presenting speech forms allows listeners to index information about and attach social meaning to the perceived group(s) of speakers. Despite the volume of research undertaken elsewhere in Asia, there appear to be no in-depth studies investigating Thai nationals’ evaluations of speciﬁc varieties of English speech. This large-scale study examines 204 Thai university students’ attitudes towards forms of UK, US, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Indian English, provided by highly proﬁcient female speakers. The study also examines the extent to which Thai students’ perceptions of linguistic diversity in their L1 and their gender affect their attitudes. Multivariate analysis demonstrated UK, US and Thai English speech was ranked signiﬁcantly higher than other Asian forms of English, for competence and warmth, attitudinal dimensions consistent with recent ﬁndings in social cognition. Further analysis indicated females and those most positive towards L1 variation expressed signiﬁcantly higher levels of ingroup loyalty towards Thai English speakers. The ﬁndings are compared and contrasted with the results of equivalent studies undertaken in other Asian contexts and, given recent cutting-edge research in social cognition conﬁrming the primacy of warmth judgements, calls for language attitude researchers to consider speaker warmth ratings more fully in future studies.

The main focus of this book is the social psychology of learning English as a global language and... more The main focus of this book is the social psychology of learning English as a global language and, more specifically, learner attitudes towards and awareness of variation in English speech. The aim of chapter one is to help contextualise the study. The chapter begins with an in-depth discussion of the global spread of English and continues with a critical review

Non-linguists’ attitudes towards language diversity are important since they reflect preferences ... more Non-linguists’ attitudes towards language diversity are important since they reflect preferences and levels of prestige associated with particular speech communities. However, few studies measuring native-speaker attitudes towards both L1 and L2 English have been conducted, including amongst UK-born students. This is surprising in light of recent internationalisation policies adopted by many UK universities and the resultant increase in overseas students. The present study utilises implicit and explicit attitude measures to investigate 194 students' perceptions of six English speech varieties. The results demonstrated that whilst explicit attitudes towards linguistic variation were generally favourable, when presented with speech samples, listeners’ implicit evaluations of UK English varieties were significantly more positive, on both status and solidarity dimensions, when compared to forms of Asian English. The findings are discussed in relation to the internationalisation agenda within UK universities and the methodological investigation into the relationship between explicit and implicit attitudes towards language variation.

In Yamaguchi, M. (ed) (2015) 世界諸英語の時代のジャパニーズ・イングリッシュ (Japanese English in the era of World Englishes). pp. 3-10., Jun 1, 2015

Previous language attitude research indicates that presenting speech forms allows listeners to in... more Previous language attitude research indicates that presenting speech forms allows listeners to index information about and attach social meaning to the perceived group(s) of speakers. Despite the volume of research undertaken elsewhere in Asia, there appear to be no in-depth studies investigating Thai nationals’ evaluations of specific varieties of English speech. This large-scale study examines 204 Thai university students’ attitudes towards forms of UK, US, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Indian English, provided by highly proficient female speakers. The study also examines the extent to which Thai students’ perceptions of linguistic diversity in their L1 and their gender affect their attitudes. Multivariate analysis demonstrated UK, US and Thai English speech was ranked significantly higher than other Asian forms of English, for competence and warmth, attitudinal dimensions consistent with recent findings in social cognition. Further analysis indicated females and those most positive towards L1 variation expressed significantly higher levels of ingroup loyalty towards Thai English speakers. The findings are compared and contrasted with the results of equivalent studies undertaken in other Asian contexts and, given recent cutting-edge research in social cognition confirming the primacy of warmth judgements, calls for language attitude researchers to consider speaker warmth ratings more fully in future studies.

“The people who are out of ‘right’ English”: Japanese university students' social evaluations of English language diversity and the internationalisation of Japanese higher education - International Journal of Applied Linguistics Volume , Mar 1, 2017

Previous research indicates that evaluations of speech forms reflect stereotypes of, and attitude... more Previous research indicates that evaluations of speech forms reflect stereotypes of, and attitudes towards, the perceived group(s) of speakers of the language/variety under consideration. This study, employing both implicit and explicit attitude measures, investigates 158 Japanese university students' perceptions of forms of UK, US, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Indian English speech. The results show a general convergence between students' explicit and implicit attitudes, for instance, regarding US and UK English as the most correct, and solidarity with Japanese speakers of English. The findings are discussed in relation to intergroup relations between the traditional Japanese cohort and specific groups of overseas students, particularly in light of recent internationalisation policies adopted by many Japanese universities, and the resultant increase in international students from South and East Asia.

Keywords: sociolinguistics, language attitudes, language ideology, native vs. non-native speakers, linguistic discrimination

In addition to the examination of non-linguists’ evaluations of different speech varieties, in re... more In addition to the examination of non-linguists’ evaluations of different speech varieties, in recent years sociolinguists and sociophoneticians have afforded greater attention towards the ways in which na€ıve listeners perceive, process, and encode
spoken language variation, including the identification of language varieties as regionally or socially localised forms. The present study attempts to extend understanding of non-linguists’ perceptions of linguistic diversity through the
investigation of how accurately and consistently UK-born students, resident in the north-east of England, can identify the speaker place of origin of six forms of L1 and L2 English. The results demonstrate that whilst the process of encoding indexical properties to and categorisations of speech stimulus as belonging to a specific language variety is complex, there is a clear tendency amongst informants to initially identify the speech as either native or non-native, most especially through the perception of specific segmental and non-segmental phonological features, before attempting more fine-grained classifications. The findings also point to the recognition of speaker place of origin at different levels of awareness, above and below the level of individual consciousness.

Folk perceptions of language diversity often differ from the criteria laid out by linguists and h... more Folk perceptions of language diversity often differ from the criteria laid out by linguists and have particular implications for applied/sociolinguists since the collective identification of language diversity largely determines the ways in which individuals regard the categorisation of their own (and others) linguistic uses as belonging to a specific social and/or regional variety. Folk perceptions can thus help define speech communities as well as explain sociolinguistic other phenomena. This paper provides a critical analysis of the existing folk linguistic research into language variation in a number of different contexts: the UK, the USA, France and Japan. It is hoped that the information gained will help build up a more detailed sociolinguistic picture of the complex and often contradictory nature of lay individuals’ attitudes towards linguistic variation. In the final sections of the paper the authors argue for a greater deal of recognition within modern linguistics of the value of examining folk perceptions of language diversity.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a critical analysis of research conducted amongst Japan... more The purpose of this chapter is to provide a critical analysis of research conducted amongst Japanese nationals regarding their social evaluations of (speakers of) specific varieties of native and non-native English speech, i.e., focussing precisely upon those language attitude studies in Japan which take into account the substantial social and regional variation within English speech and the resultant lexical, phonetic and morphosyntactic diversity which exists between different forms of the language. It is hoped that the information gained will help build up a more thorough picture of the current, changing sociolinguistic position of English and its varieties in Japan. Moreover, the conclusions drawn will also offer a deeper insight into the direction of any attitude changes towards English language variation occurring amongst the Japanese population; the implications of which have the potential to aid educators, policy-makers and researchers involved in the learning and teaching of the English language in Japan, and elsewhere in the expanding circle.

This paper investigates the role of English in Japan, outlining its current status and use. The p... more This paper investigates the role of English in Japan, outlining its current status and use. The paper begins with a critical review of the World Englishes model as it relates to the categorization of Japan within the expanding circle of English use and continues with a brief history of English language contact with the country. It then examines the changing role of English in the Japanese education system and media. This is followed by a discussion of the influence of English on the Japanese language as well as the role which the English language plays within the discourses of nihonjinron and kokusaika. The paper concludes with a call for empirical research to be conducted investigating the spread, acquisition and attitudes towards English in Japan.

Language attitude studies have tended to assume that informants who listen to and evaluate speech... more Language attitude studies have tended to assume that informants who listen to and evaluate speech stimuli are able to identify with consistent accuracy the varieties of English in question. However, misidentification could reduce the validity of any results obtained, particularly when it involves the evaluations of non-native English speaking informants, who are likely to have had less exposure to varieties of English speech. The present study investigated the perceptions of 558 Japanese university students of six varieties of English speech. The results indicated that whilst evaluations of speakers of UK and US English were particularly positive in terms of status, a Japanese speaker of heavily-accented English was rated most favourably in terms of social attractiveness. The findings from an additional dialect recognition question demonstrated that accurate identification had a significant positive effect upon the perceived status of native varieties of English, suggesting a tendency amongst the informants to look to native speakers to provide ‘notions of correctness’. The results also imply that Japanese learners retain representations of varieties of English speech and draw upon this resource, whether consciously or unconsciously, in order to identify and evaluate (speakers of) these speech varieties.

This paper, through the employment of a verbal-guise study and techniques incorporated from perce... more This paper, through the employment of a verbal-guise study and techniques incorporated from perceptual dialectology, investigated the attitudes of 558 Japanese university students towards six varieties of English speech. Although the results suggest a particular favorability towards standard and non-standard varieties of UK and US English in terms of ‘status’, informants expressed greater ‘solidarity’ with a Japanese speaker of heavily-accented English. Differences in the students’ gender, self-perceived proficiency in English, exposure to English and evaluations of varieties of Japanese all had significant effects on the informants’ attitudes. The findings are discussed in relation to the pedagogical and language planning implications in English language teaching inside and outside Japan.

この論文は、verbal-guise studyの使用とperceptual dialectology を取り入れた技法を通し、日本の大学生５５８人による、６種の英語スピーチに対する認識を研究した量的分析学です。この研究結果が、多様なイギリスとアメリカの標準と非標準英語に対し,statusの観点より優先的であるのにもかかわらず、学生達は、日本人特有の英語に対してよりsolidarityを示しました。学生の性別の違い、自己認識の英語熟練度のレベル、英語への接触レベル、そして、多様な日本語への認識、これら全ては、多様な英語スピーチに向けての姿勢へ著しく主要な影響を及ぼしました。しかしながら、彼らの言語に対する姿勢への影響において、学生達の出身地には著しく表れませんでした。これらの発見は日本の国内外双方での英語教育におき、その教育学と言語方針の絡み合いに関連し論議されています。

Talks by Robert M. McKenzie

Global Englishes in Japan Research Meeting Kyoto Prefectural University 5 August 2019, 2019

There exists a dearth of research investigating how listeners use their knowledge of variation in... more There exists a dearth of research investigating how listeners use their knowledge of variation in their L2 to categorise speaker provenance from stimulus speech. The present study, employing a free classification measure, examined 191 Thai university students' categorisations of the geographical origin of nine speakers of English. Analysis demonstrated participants were generally able to distinguish between native and non-native English speech more broadly, and this distinction was found to be the primary perceptual dimension underlying speaker provenance categorisations. With regards to more fine-grained classifications, recognition rates for Thai, UK, US and Indian English speakers were substantially higher when compared to Vietnamese and Australian English speakers, indicating the social-psychological salience of the speech forms, rather than geographical proximity, was key in determining categorisation accuracy. Analysis of misidentification patterns showed a tendency for the Thai students to conflate Asian English speech forms, despite substantial phonological and phonetic differences between the English spoken in different Asian nations. Participant comments also indicated segmental features were largely responsible for (mis)categorisations. Consistent with current speaker evaluation theories, the findings point to speaker categorisation as an initial processing stage, leading to the activation of stereotypes about and attitudes towards the speakers' perceived social and ethnic group membership.

Socio-psychological research has generally reported low correlations between explicit and implici... more Socio-psychological research has generally reported low correlations between explicit and implicit attitude measures for a range of socially sensitive topics, indicating attitude change in progress. However, sociolinguists have yet to investigate whether differences between implicit and explicit attitudes towards language use can determine the direction of any language attitude change underway; surprising given recent evidence community language attitude change can result in micro-level language change over time. The present study employed an implicit association test and self-report attitude scale to measure the relationship between 108 English nationals' implicit and explicit ratings of Northern English and Southern English speech. Multivariate analysis demonstrated significant implicit-explicit attitude discrepancy, providing evidence of attitude change in progress, led by younger males, with explicit attitudes changing more rapidly towards a greater tolerance of the English spoken in the north of England. Implications for the investigation of language attitude change and (socio)linguistic change in progress are discussed.

Conference Presentations by Robert M. McKenzie

Copenhagen Linguistics Circle Seminar - Plenary lecture - What makes a standard language? Changing evaluations across Europe, 2019

Research conducted by social psychologists has frequently demonstrated low correlations between e... more Research conducted by social psychologists has frequently demonstrated low correlations between explicit and implicit attitude measures in a range of socially sensitive domains. Since implicit and explicit evaluations do not change at the same rate, any implicit–explicit attitudinal discrepancy (IED) may indicate attitude change in progress (see Charlesworth and Banaji, 2019). However, (socio)linguists have yet to investigate whether differences between implicit and explicit attitudes towards language use can determine the direction of any language attitude change underway; surprising given recent evidence community language attitude change can result in micro-level language change over time.

This talk details the results of a recent study (McKenzie and Carrie, 2018), employing an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and self-report attitude scale, examining the relationship between 90 English nationals' implicit and explicit ratings of Northern English and Southern English speech in England. Multivariate analysis demonstrated a significant implicit-explicit attitude discrepancy (IED), providing evidence of language attitude change in progress, led by younger females, with explicit attitudes changing more rapidly towards a greater tolerance, if not unreserved approval, of the English spoken in the north of England. The study findings are discussed in relation to the potential changing status of Northern and Southern English speech as well as the potential value of measuring implicit-explicit attitudinal discrepancy in apparent time data to help uncover language attitude change in progress.

References
Charlesworth, T.E.S. and M.R. Banaji (2019) Patterns of implicit and explicit attitudes: 1. Long-term change and stability from 2007 to 2016. Psychological Science 30(2): 830-844. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797618813087

McKenzie, R.M. and E. Carrie (2018) Implicit-explicit attitudinal discrepancy and the investigation of language attitude change in progress. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 39(9): 174-192. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01434632.2018.1445744?scroll=top&needAccess=true

1st International Conference on English Literature, Linguistics and Teaching (ICELLT 2018) Interaction in English: Cross-Cultural Awareness and Communication , 2018

The findings of previous language attitude studies have demonstrated consistently that public ev... more The findings of previous language attitude studies have demonstrated consistently that public evaluations of speech forms reflect stereotypes of and attitudes towards the perceived group(s) of speakers of the language or variety under consideration. Folk perceptions of speech varieties are particularly impactful in educational contexts (Ryan and Giles, 1982). However, despite the volume of studies measuring attitudes towards variation in L1 varieties of the English language, it is only relatively recently that researchers began to investigate folklinguistic perceptions of specific forms of English spoken in Asia, including within higher education contexts. This is surprising given the considerable diversity within and between spoken forms of Asian Englishes, the growing numbers of students from Asian countries studying in English at overseas universities as well as the increasing importance of the English language throughout the Asian continent.

This talk details the results of a series of large-scale studies, investigating attitudes towards forms of UK, US, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Indian English speech, amongst large cohorts of university students in the UK (McKenzie, 2015a, 2015b) Japan (McKenzie and Gilmore, 2017) and Thailand (McKenzie, Kitikanan and Boriboon, 2016). Fine-grained multivariate analysis of the data collected demonstrated that whilst differences exist between the UK, Thai and Japanese university students’ speech evaluations, there was a general tendency amongst all three student cohorts to rank speakers of both standard and non-standard UK and US English varieties significantly higher in terms of competence than the three Asian English speech forms. In contrast, the analysis generally indicted significantly more favourable ratings for the university students’ ‘local’ forms of English in terms of warmth. The findings of these studies are discussed in relation to university internationalisation agendas, and for English language policy more broadly, in UK and Asian contexts. A number of suggestions for the future methodological investigation of language attitudes are also offered.

References

McKenzie, R.M. (2015a) UK university students’ folk perceptions of spoken variation in English: The
role of explicit and implicit attitudes. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 236: 31-53.

McKenzie, R.M. (2015b) The sociolinguistics of variety identification and categorisation: Free
classification of varieties of spoken English amongst non-linguist listeners. Language Awareness 24(2): 150-168.

McKenzie, R.M., P. Kitikanan and P. Boriboon (2016) The competence and warmth of Thai students’ attitudes towards varieties of English: the effect of gender and perceptions of L1 diversity. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 37(6): 536-550.

McKenzie, R.M. and A. Gilmore (2017) “The people who are out of ‘right’ English”: Japanese university students’ social evaluations of English language diversity and the internationalisation of Japanese higher education. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 27(1):152-175.

Ryan, E.R. and H. Giles (1982) (eds.) Attitudes towards Language Variation. London: Edward Arnold.