LANGUAGE ATTITUDES: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

Language, a vital communication tool, is a social commodity used to
express one’s opinions, views, and ideas. It is a code shared by
members of a community, and as such, surrounded by diverse
attitudes because humans, and by extension, communities, express
certain attitudes to whatever is exposed to them. Thus, language
attitudes refer to one’s perceptions, beliefs or feelings about a
language variety and these attitudes are shaped by a complex interplay
of influences. With these insights, this study examines factors
responsible for language attitudes and the consequences of such
factors including power and prestige of the language, the degrees to
which the variety has visible vitality, socioeconomic advantages of
learning the language, sentimental attachment towards the language
especially the mother tongue, appropriateness of the language in a
given context, and attitudes towards the culture which a language
express. The paper concludes that the consequences of such attitudes
are language maintenance and shift, education and learning of the
language among others. It is recommended that attention be given to
the different areas that inform various attitudes towards language use
and attitudes.