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

Autores/as

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

Palabras clave:

actitudes lingüísticas, variación lingüística, enseñanza del inglés, sociolingüística, estudiantado universitario, enseñanza explícita

Resumen

Este estudio analiza cómo la enseñanza explícita sobre variación lingüística afecta a las actitudes lingüísticas de estudiantes universitarios. Para ello, se incorporaron materiales didácticos sobre diversidad lingüística en asignaturas de lingüística inglesa en dos grados de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). Mediante cuestionarios aplicados antes y después de la intervención, se evaluaron los cambios en las actitudes del alumnado. Los resultados muestran una mejora general en la percepción sobre la variación lingüística tras la instrucción, con cambios positivos en todos los grupos de participantes, sin importar sus características individuales. No obstante, no se observaron cambios en las asociaciones de los estudiantes hacia lenguas o variedades específicas, lo que indica que las unidades didácticas no afectaron a este aspecto de sus actitudes. Estos hallazgos evidencian el potencial de la enseñanza dirigida para promover actitudes lingüísticas más inclusivas, aunque también señalan ciertas limitaciones en su alcance.

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Biografía del autor/a

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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