Language Variation in the Linguistics Classroom: Improving University Students’ Attitudes through Targeted Instruction

Daniela Pettersson-Traba; Maria Gkoutziomitrou; Iván Tamaredo

doi:10.18172/jes.6883

Authors

Daniela Pettersson-Traba Universidad Complutense de Madrid https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9302-3372
Maria Gkoutziomitrou Universidad Complutense de Madrid https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3159-9397
Iván Tamaredo Universidad Complutense de Madrid https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3287-6173

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.6883

Keywords:

language attitudes, language variation, ELT, sociolinguistics, university students, explicit instruction

Abstract

This study explores how explicit instruction on language variation influences university students’ language attitudes. Teaching materials addressing language diversity were integrated into English linguistics courses across two degree programs at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). A pre-post questionnaire design assessed attitudinal changes among students before and after the intervention. Results indicate a general improvement in students’ perceptions of language variation following instruction, with positive shifts observed across all participant groups, regardless of their individual characteristics. However, no changes were detected in students’ associations with specific languages or varieties, suggesting that the teaching units did not affect this particular dimension of language attitudes. These findings highlight the potential of targeted instruction to foster more inclusive language attitudes while also pointing to the limits of influence in certain sociolinguistic dimensions.

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Author Biographies

Daniela Pettersson-Traba, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Daniela Pettersson-Traba received her PhD in English Linguistics from the University of Santiago de Compostela in 2021 and is currently an assistant lecturer in the Department of English Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid. Her research focuses primarily on lexical and semantic variation and change in Late Modern English, approached from a usage-based Cognitive Linguistics perspective. She is also interested in pragmatic discourse markers from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives, as well as in language attitudes.

Maria Gkoutziomitrou, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Maria Gkoutziomitrou is a predoctoral research fellow in English Linguistics in the Department of English Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid. She currently holds an FPI predoctoral research grant (2023-2027), awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Her PhD thesis focuses on the use of experimental methods within the field of cognitive sociolinguistics. Her broader research interests encompass sociolinguistics, language attitudes, and sociopragmatics.

Iván Tamaredo, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Iván Tamaredo holds a PhD in English Studies from the University of Santiago de Compostela and is currently a professor at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). His research interests include varieties of English, probabilistic variation, linguistic complexity, and language attitudes, framed within a cognitive and usage-based perspective of language.

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