Language attitude adoption: a cross-sectional study on attitudes towards Catalan among adolescents from Catalonia and La Franja

Abstract

The linguistic attitudes of the speakers of a language can have great impact on the status and evolution of that language, particularly in cases in which there is contact among different speech communities. This study provides a comparative analysis of the attitudes towards the Catalan language among adolescents in the first year of secondary school in different municipalities of Catalonia and the bordering Catalan-speaking region of Aragón, known as La Franja. The primary aim of this article is to explain the causes of language attitude in adolescents. To do so, we use a multiple linear regression model that combines the most significant variables of different empirical and theoretical approaches. The results show a higher appreciation for the Catalan language in the municipalities of Catalonia than in those the neighbouring areas of La Franja. Whilst this situation is best explained by identity variables in Catalonia, linguistic self-confidence is the key factor in the case of La Franja. In both cases, the effects of commonalities among the different variables are noteworthy in explaining language attitudes.

Key words: attitudes towards Catalan, Catalonia and La Franja, linear regression, variable importance measures.