A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study of Attitudes toward Spanish as a Heritage Language in Florida
A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study of Attitudes toward Spanish as a Heritage Language in Florida
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佛罗里达州对西班牙语作为传统语言的态度的语料库辅助话语研究
作者：
E. Kutlu;R. Kircher
西班牙语使用者构成了美国最大的传统语言群体。佛罗里达州的不同寻常之处在于，一方面，它是美国外国出生居民比例最高的州之一，其中大多数来自拉丁美洲，但另一方面，佛罗里达州的西班牙语活力相对较低。在这项关于佛罗里达州对西班牙语作为传统语言的态度的探索性研究中，我们分析了两个由最新 Twitter 数据组成的语料库（一个英语：5,405,947 个单词，一个西班牙语：525,425 个单词）。我们检查了频率、搭配、索引线和较大的文本片段。结果表明，在地位维度上，人们对西班牙语的态度主要是消极的，但在团结维度上，人们对西班牙语的态度主要是积极的。尽管如此，西班牙语的传播和使用仍受到同化压力和对负面社会影响的恐惧的影响。我们还发现，在推文中表达态度时，使用西班牙语的频率低于英语；相反，西班牙语经常被用来吸引 Twitter 用户对该语言中的特定链接的注意。我们讨论了我们的研究结果（如果它们能够推广）对佛罗里达州西班牙语未来的影响，并为未来的研究提供了方向。
Spanish speakers constitute the largest heritage language community in the US. The state of Florida is unusual in that, on one hand, it has one of the highest foreign-born resident rates in the country, most of whom originate from Latin America—but on the other hand, Florida has a comparatively low Spanish language vitality. In this exploratory study of attitudes toward Spanish as a heritage language in Florida, we analyzed two corpora (one English: 5,405,947 words, and one Spanish: 525,425 words) consisting of recent Twitter data. We examined frequencies, collocations, concordance lines, and larger text segments. The results indicate predominantly negative attitudes toward Spanish on the status dimension, but predominantly positive attitudes on the solidarity dimension. Despite the latter, transmission and use of Spanish were found to be affected by pressure to assimilate, and fear of negative societal repercussions. We also found Spanish to be used less frequently than English to tweet about attitudes; instead, Spanish was frequently used to attract Twitter users’ attention to specific links in the language. We discuss the implications of our findings (should they generalize) for the future of Spanish in Florida, and we provide directions for future research.