ArticlePublisher preview available

“Attitudes Towards Languages” (AToL) Scale

Journal of Language and Social Psychology

March 2013
32(1):21-45

DOI:10.1177/0261927X12457922

Authors:

Christiane Schoel

Fulda University of Applied Sciences

Janin Roessel

Leibniz Institute for the German Language

Jana Janssen

Show all 8 authorsHide

Language attitudes may be differentiated into attitudes towards speakers and attitudes towards languages. However, to date, no systematic and differentiated instrument exists that measures attitudes towards language. Accordingly, we developed, validated, and applied the Attitudes Towards Languages (AToL) scale in four studies. In Study 1, we selected 15 items for the AToL scale, which represented the three dimensions of value, sound, and structure. The following studies replicated and validated the three-factor structure and differential mean profiles along the three dimensions for different languages (a) in a more diverse German sample (Study 2), (b) in different countries (Study 3), and (c) when participants based their evaluations on speech samples (Study 4). Moreover, we investigated the relation between the AToL dimensions and stereotypic speaker evaluations. Results confirm the reliability, validity, and generalizability of the AToL scale and its incremental value to mere speaker evaluations.

Mean language profiles of the AToL scale in Study 1 Note. AToL scale = Attitudes Towards Languages scale. Different indices indicate significant (Bonferroni corrected) differences between subscales per language.

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Standardized coefficients for the hierarchical factor structure hypothesized in Study 2 Note. Latent factors are shown in ellipses, and the observed items are shown in rectangles. All paths are significant p < .05.

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Mean language profiles of the AToL scale in Study 2 Note. AToL scale = Attitudes Towards Languages scale. Different indices indicate significant (Bonferroni corrected) differences between subscales per language.

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Mean language profiles of the AToL scale in Study 3 Note. AToL scale = Attitudes Towards Languages scale. Different indices indicate significant (Bonferroni corrected) differences between subscales per language.

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Mean language profiles of the AToL scale in Study 4 Note. AToL scale = Attitudes Towards Languages scale. Different indices indicate significant (Bonferroni corrected) differences between subscales per language.

…

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Journal of Language and Social Psychology

32(1) 21 –45

DOI: 10.1177/0261927X12457922

http://jls.sagepub.com

457922JLS32110.1177/0261927X12457922Journal

of Language and Social PsychologySchoel et al.

1University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

2Institute for German Language, Mannheim, Germany

*Christiane Schoel and Janin Roessel contributed equally as first authors to this paper.

Corresponding Author:

Christiane Schoel, Department of Social Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim,

A5 Building A, 68131 Mannheim, Germany

Email: cschoel@rumms.uni-mannheim.de

“Attitudes To wards

Languages” (AToL) Scale:

A Global Instrument

Christiane Schoel1,*, Janin Roessel1,*, Jennifer Eck1,

Jana Janssen1, Branislava Petrovic1, Astrid Rothe2,

Selma Carolin Rudert1, and Dagmar Stahlberg1

Abstract

Language attitudes may be differentiated into attitudes towards speakers and attitudes

towards languages. However, to date, no systematic and differentiated instrument exists

that measures attitudes towards language. Accordingly, we developed, validated, and applied

the Attitudes Towards Languages (AToL) scale in four studies. In Study 1, we selected 15

items for the AToL scale, which represented the three dimensions of value, sound, and

structure. The following studies replicated and validated the three-factor structure

and differential mean profiles along the three dimensions for different languages (a)

in a more diverse German sample (Study 2), (b) in different countries (Study 3), and

we investigated the relation between the AToL dimensions and stereotypic speaker

evaluations. Results confirm the reliability, validity, and generalizability of the AToL

scale and its incremental value to mere speaker evaluations.

Keywords

language attitudes, assessment, cross-linguistic, speaker evaluations, intercultural

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