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ERIC Number: EJ748117
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 22
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-0050
EISSN: N/A
Attitudes towards Literary Tamil and Standard Spoken Tamil in Singapore
Saravanan, Vanithamani
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v10 n1 p58-79 2007
This is the first empirical study that focused on attitudes towards two varieties of Tamil, Literary Tamil (LT) and Standard Spoken Tamil (SST), with the multilingual state of Singapore as the backdrop. The attitudes of 46 Singapore Tamil teachers towards speakers of LT and SST were investigated using the matched-guise approach along with four-point semantic differential attitude scales. The scales formed three dimensions--status, solidarity and social attractiveness; and three additional distinct traits--love for language, suitability for Tamil teaching and suitability for media presentation. The teachers' perceptions of LT and SST guises of two out of three speakers were found predominantly comparable for all attitude dimensions (status, solidarity, and social attractiveness) and two discrete attitude items (love for language and suitability for Tamil teaching). Two speakers were rated lower when using SST than when using LT in terms of perceived suitability for media presentation. Tamil teachers' attitudes were influenced by the pitch and pitch variation of the speakers' voice. Differences in teachers' perceptions of SST and LT guises were detected primarily only for the speaker whose voice has the highest pitch and highest pitch variation. The same speaker was rated highest in all measures given above.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Singapore
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A