Attitudes towards African American Vernacular English in the Netherlands

Abstract

This study attempts to contribute to the wide range of attitude research by looking at the attitudes towards African American Vernacular English (AAVE) when compared to General American (GA) in the Netherlands. This study focusses on different age groups and if exposure to AAVE and GA has an influence on their attitudes. A verbal-guise technique was employed with two female AAVE speakers and two female GA speakers. The hypotheses were that the attitudes towards AAVE were more negative than the attitudes towards GA, that younger participants would rate speakers of AAVE higher than older participants, that age did not have an influence on the attitudes towards GA and that a higher amount of exposure influenced the attitudes towards AAVE and GA positively. The first hypothesis was accepted. The second hypothesis was partially accepted, since the younger participants only rated the AAVE speakers higher on confidence. The third hypothesis was rejected, since the older participants rated the GA speakers higher on confidence and attractiveness. The fourth hypothesis was partially accepted, since the younger participants saw and heard individuals speaking AAVE significantly more than the older participants, and they rated the AAVE speakers higher on confidence. However, the older participants rated the GA speakers higher on confidence and attractiveness, while they did not significantly differ in the amount of exposure to GA with the younger participants.