Attitudes towards a non-standard variety of English in Aruba

Abstract

This study contributes to the field of language attitudes by examining the attitudes of Arubans towards two language varieties of English, namely, American English (standard) and Aruban accented English (non-standard) through a verbal guise test. 40 Arubans listened to four speakers of American English (two male, two female) and four speakers of Aruban accented English (two male two female) and rated them in terms of status, social attractiveness and vocal attractiveness. Furthermore, the interaction between the gender of the speakers and the accent was also studied. Results of this study revealed that Arubans rated both American and Aruban speakers similarly on all dimensions with a slight preference for the American English accent. The relation between the gender of the speaker and the accent had no significant difference. These findings provide new perspectives on World Englishes with new insights about the attitudes of Arubans towards standard and non-standard varieties of English.