Romanica Gothoburgensia

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://gupea-staging.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/24971

Editors: Andrea Castro, Christina Lindqvist, Anna Forné
ISSN 0080-3863
Published by the Department of Languages and Literatures of the University of Gothenburg

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Browsing Romanica Gothoburgensia by Subject "attitudes"

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    Actitudes hacia la variedad caló y sus hablantes. Un estudio sociolingüístico de las opiniones de adolescentes andaluces
    (2016) Andersson, Pierre
    Caló is a language/variety spoken by the Spanish Calé (i.e. the Roma). The variety belongs to a group of languages referred to as “Para-Romani”, characterized by Romani vocabulary, but largely non- Romani morphology, phonology and syntax, in the case of Caló deriving from Spanish. Much research has been carried out regarding the vocabulary and the grammar of this variety. The conclusions drawn in those studies indicate that Caló is on its way to extinction. However, there is an expressed interest in reintroducing the variety, in a form called “Romanó-Caló”. Language attitudes play a decisive role for the destiny of endangered languages. In order for a revitalization project to be successful, the attitudes towards the variety being reintroduced have to be positive. The aim of this study is to measure the attitudes that both Calé and non-Calé have towards Caló and Caló speakers, a type of study never carried out in the past. The methods applied are both direct and indirect. In part one, 231 informants listened to different recordings of voices acting as either a “Spanish speaking person” or a “Caló speaking person”, a technique referred to as ‘matched guise’. Firstly, the informants were asked to write down their first three impressions of the speakers. Secondly, nine short questions related to the voices were asked, to which the subjects expressed their answers on attitude scales. They were also asked to match the voices with photos of people. Furthermore, the informants have answered questions regarding what variety is spoken at home, as well as if he or she has any knowledge of, or contact with, any language/variety, apart from Spanish. 182 informants continued with part two of the questionnaire, which consisted of 20 items – positive and negative statements towards Caló and Caló speakers. The informants have rated their agreement or disagreement to these statements on a Likert scale. Another exercise measured the willingness of the informants to use Caló words for naming various objects. In addition, the subjects were tested on their knowledge of some Caló words, as well as asked whether they thought it was “useful” to know how to speak Caló. Various statistical methods have been used in order to establish whether or not the results are statistically significant. The results of the analysis indicate that the attitudes differ towards Caló and Caló speakers, depending on the informant’s (a) ethnicity (b) contact with Caló as well as with Caló speakers, and (c) gender. It is those who – in their own opinion – belong to the ethnic group Calé, as well as those who claim that they have some contact with the variety and its speakers, who show positive attitudes in both parts of the study. The women also show more positive attitudes than the men. It is also possible to note positive attitudes towards the variety and its speakers among the subjects with a high level of knowledge of Caló words, as well as among those with the highest willingness to use Caló. These observations suggest that a revitalization project of the variety Caló has a clear chance of being successful.
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    La árbitra, la fiscala y la gerenta ¿por qué tan inusuales? - Un nuevo modelo explicativo del nombramiento de las mujeres profesionales españolas
    (Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, 2022) Christel, Larsson
    The overall aim of this dissertation is to generate a theory explaining the variation in the way the Spaniards, particularly the Spanish women, designate female professionals. Three different studies are included, the first one a quantitative survey on how the use of the three main strategies for referring to female professionals (the feminine: la abogada; the common gender: la abogado; lexical modification: mujer abogado) is determined by the sex, the age and the educational level of the speakers. The material consists of 40 professions and includes job titles of various types, representing different socioeconomic levels in the Spanish society. The results show that 18 of the 40 professsions are used in the feminine, 22 in the common gender and, consequently, no profession is used in the third variant by the majority of the informants. The conclusions regarding the impact of the social factors confirm a majority use of feminine designations by the women, the oldest age group and the speakers with the highest level of education, respectively. However, the differences between the groups are marginal counted in absolute numbers. The analysis of the extent to which the informants are ready to accept the feminine of the professions demonstrates the highest values in the following groups: the women, the youngest age group and the informants with the lowest educational level. The results of the qualitative study show that several factors influence the election of variant in the 22 cases not used in the feminine according to the first study, which indicates the predomination of idiosyncrasy in this field. Due to the small differences between the groups concerning the feminine use, the aim of the third study is to find out what factors determine the female use. In 31 in-depth interviews, cards illustrating different professions, practised by both men and women, are presented and discussed. The analysis of this study is couched within the Grounded Theory framework, according to which the aim is to generate a new theory, not to confirm an existing one. Such a theory is entirely grounded in the empiric data that emerge throughout the analysis, when data are compared for similarities and formed into categories. The core category – existence in our study – is the one which accounts for most of the variation around the concern. Thus, the prerequisite of the use of a feminine title is its approval by the Royal Spanish Academy. However, its power is twofold. The academic norm is prescriptive only in non-existing cases, since nobody uses, unless in very specific contexts, a feminine title that is not accepted. In the opposite case, the use of the feminine is optional and determined by the factors awareness, presence, habit, aesthetics, attitude and idiosyncrasy. To ensure the highest degree of reliability and validity of our final conclusions, the last step consists of triangulating the three studies.