KrikK. June. Kristine Maj Nielsen Studienr: Keystrokes: Supervisor: Janus Mortensen

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1 KrikK Kristine Maj Nielsen Studienr: Keystrokes: Supervisor: Janus Mortensen June 14 Danish secondary pupils attitudes towards accents and implications regarding teaching Kristine Maj Nielsen This thesis investigates Danish secondary pupils attitudes towards different accents in relation to theory about language attitude, language ideology and as lingua franca. Using a qualitative method, the focus group interview, this thesis investigates attitudes expressed towards different accent among 6 pupils from a regular STX and 4 pupils from an international STX, to see what differences there is in the attitudes expressed. The aim is to bring forward a discussion about what implications the results of the investigation, should have regarding teaching in secondary school in Denmark. Roskilde Universitet

2 Résumé This thesis is about researching attitudes towards different accents expressed among Danish pupils in secondary schools. Furthermore the research set out to see if there were any differences between the attitudes expressed among pupils from a regular secondary school and pupils from an international school. Furthermore, the aim with the research was to find out whether or not the result of the analysis of the pupils attitudes, should have any implications regarding teaching in secondary school. The theoretical background for this thesis is about language attitude (Peter Garrett, 2010), language ideology (Milroy & Milroy 2003, Bex and Watts, 2000) and as lingua franca (Jenkins, 2007, Seidlhofer, 2005, Berns, 2013, Mortensen 2013). The investigation is based on a qualitative method using the focus group interview. Two focus group interviews were made, one group with 6 pupils from a regular secondary school and one group with 4 pupils from an international secondary school. The interviews showed among other things that attending an international school had influenced the pupils attitudes to be different from the attitudes expressed by the pupils from the regular secondary school. The attitudes expressed was analysed in different categories such as accents, mixing accents, the Danish accent, correct and accents in class. The pupils attitudes were seen as structures of input and output, social cognition, affect and behaviour and as something the pupils learn. Furthermore, the attitudes was seen in relation to a standard language ideology and as lingua franca. The aim with investigating the attitudes expressed explicitly and implicitly among the 10 pupils, and to see if the attitudes were affected by the two language ideologies, was to discuss whether the result of my analysis should have any implications regarding teaching in secondary school. The discussion is about how you can implement both a standard language ideology and as lingua franca into the teaching of as a foreign language in secondary school. Both ideological positions are already implemented in the departmental order of teaching, but not expressed in the pupils attitudes equally to the same extent. The results of the analysis and the following discussion should be seen as one possible interpretation of this investigation and as a contribution of research already made in the area and research yet to come. 2

3 Table of Content RÉSUMÉ INTRODUCTION RESEARCH QUESTION THEORY ATTITUDE Attitude as input and output Attitude as a structure Attitudes are learned SUMMARY LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES Standardisation of as lingua franca Researching as lingua franca SUMMARY METHODOLOGY QUALITATIVE METHOD THE FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW Designing the focus group Designing the interview Designing the questions TRANSCRIBING DATA ANALYSING THE DATA SUMMARY ANALYSIS: PUPILS ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGLISH ACCENTS ENGLISH ACCENTS The British Accent The American accent Summary MIXING ACCENTS Summary THE DANISH ACCENT Anders Fogh Villy Søvndal Mads Mikkelsen Summary CORRECT ENGLISH ACCENTS IN ENGLISH CLASS SUMMARY IMPLICATIONS OF THE ATTITUDES FOUND IN RELATION TO TEACHING ENGLISH STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH TEACHING ELF CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS TO FURTHER DISCUSSION LITERATURE LIST APPENDIXES

4 1 Introduction Men som man kunne høre på hans tale på et møde mellem NATO-alliance landene i dag, så er udtalen ikke klassisk Oxford-engelsk (Ekstrabladet, April 14, 2011). This is a quote from a Danish newspaper, criticizing the accent of the former Secretary General of NATO, and former Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The quote states that Fogh does not speak the classic Oxford. Anders Fogh Rasmussen is from Denmark, so the question is why his accent is expected to be Oxford? Given his now former position as Secretary General of NATO, it seems that it is possible to understand his, regardless of his accent. Why is it that accent is the yardstick from where you measure a person s skills in? In the quote stated above, Oxford- is presented as the standard pronunciation or accent you should aim towards using. My aim for this thesis is to find out if this attitude, resembling a standard language ideology, is also present among Danish secondary pupils learning. In the departmental order for teaching in Upper Secondary Education, the STX Gymnasium, it says that the purpose of teaching is to enable pupils to communicate across borders ( Therefore pupils should learn about different varieties of language and cultures. However, the departmental order does not specify which varieties or accents the pupils should learn. The only speaking countries mentioned by name are the British and the American. Furthermore the order does not specify that the pupils should speak with an accent themselves ( These unspecified terms in the departmental order for teaching in STX leave room for many different interpretations of what correct is, especially among pupils and teachers. It seems that the departmental order are based on both a standard language ideology and a communicative purpose of teaching. What I want to find out in this report is what attitudes secondary pupils have towards different accents, and if they believe accent matter when speaking? Furthermore, I want to discuss if the attitudes I find among the pupils, should have any implications when teaching in secondary school. This leads me to the following research question: 4

5 1.1 Research question What are Danish secondary pupils attitudes towards different accents? Do pupils from an international school express attitudes that are different from attitudes expressed by pupils from a regular school? Should the attitudes I find expressed have any implications when teaching in secondary school? The theoretical background for my analysis will be accounted for in chapter 2: Theory. When analysing secondary pupils attitudes I will use Peter Garrett s method for studying attitude. According to Garrett, attitude can be seen as a structure of social cognition, experiences and behaviour. Furthermore, attitude is also something you learn through personal experiences and from your social environment e.g. school. By analysing the pupils opinions and statements, I will find the underlying attitudes expressed and investigate what features they are based on. A stated before, the departmental order seem to contain both a standard language ideology and a communicative purpose where is used as a tool for communication on a global scale. Therefore I will investigate the pupils attitudes expressed implicitly in relation to two different language ideologies: a standard language ideology and as lingua franca (ELF). The aim is to see which ideology the pupils attitudes and their use of, are influenced by and if this should have any implications when teaching as a foreign language. In chapter 2 there will be accounted for theory about standard language ideology and ELF, with the purpose of explaining what these two concepts consist of and why they are relevant for my analysis. For my research I have chosen a qualitative method. In order to find out about secondary pupils attitudes towards accents, I will do a focus group interview of ten pupils divided in 2 groups 6 pupils from a regular school and 4 pupils from an international school. The aim of my study is not to put these 10 pupils attitudes forward as representatives of attitudes among secondary pupils in general, but to investigate the underlying attitudes of these pupils statements and opinions, in order to discuss if the results of my analysis should have any implications regarding teaching in secondary school. The structure, the execution and the method for analysing my interviews will be accounted for in Chapter three: methodology. 5

6 Chapter 4 is the analysis, where the focus is to find the attitudes express in the varied opinions and statements of the 10 pupils, too see where they position themselves in relation to standard language ideology or ELF. Following the analysis will be a discussion of the results from the analysis in relation to teaching in secondary school, chapter 5. The discussion will be focusing on the main arguments used by the pupils in the analysis in relation to theory in the area, and in relation to the attitudes expressed in the departmental order. Chapter 6 will be an overall summery of my analysis and discussion with the aim of summarising the main arguments in my report. Chapter 7 will shortly put my report into perspective with other topics connected to language attitudes, language ideology and teaching, to see how other aspects could possible have been investigated in relation to pupils attitudes towards accent. But first, I will explain the theoretical background I have chosen for my investigation. 2 Theory 2.1 Attitude A much simplified (and wrong) way to understand a person s attitude towards accents, would be to jump to the conclusion that if a person uses the British RP accent, it means the person likes Britain and British more than s/he likes e.g. America and American, or vice versa. The concept of attitude is a much more complex matter that can be affected by several factors, and not only seen expressed through behaviour. In his book Attitude to Language, Peter Garrett offers a review of the concept attitude as a construct of several features, from where you can investigate language attitude. Garrett explains that attitude can be seen as a dual concept of input and output, as a concept you learn and as a structure of cognition, affect and behaviour. For his definition of attitude, Garrett refers to Sarnoff s definition of attitude as a disposition to react favourably or unfavourably to a class of objects (Garret, 2010, p. 20). According to Garrett, Sarnoff s definition of attitudes offers a core from where various aspects of attitudes can be elaborated on. When investigating the pupils attitudes towards the different accents, the 6

7 aspects I have chosen to focus on is attitudes as input and output, attitude as structure of cognition, affect and behaviour and attitudes as something you learn Attitude as input and output When studying pupils attitudes this aspect of attitude plays a great role when planning and teaching languages (Garrett, 2010, p. 21). A pupil s attitude towards is an important input factor when learning e.g. a favourable attitude towards can improve your achievements. On the output side when studying, success can create a positive attitude towards the language on the output side: Positive attitude Positive Attitude Success Success Adding this concept of attitude to the use of accents, a favourable attitude towards an accent, e.g. the British RP, can affect your ability and wish to use this accent on the input side. On the output side, experiencing success while using this accent can create more favourable attitudes towards this accent. This is not only in an educational context. Attitude as input and output can affect language production and reception in general. Language attitudes relate to socio-cultural norms and are part of a person s communicative competences (Garrett, 2010, p. 21). Attitude towards a language affects a person s reaction to other language users and at the same time it affects a person s presumption of how other language users will respond to his/her own choice of language (Garrett, 2010, p. 21). If a pupil has a positive attitude towards the use of the British accent, this can affect the pupil to use this accent as oppose to another. Furthermore, this pupil might presume that others will react positively towards the use of this accent, which also can affect his/her choice. Language reception and production and attitude as input and output then create a cycle between social cognition and language variation (Garret, 2010, p. 22). When investigating pupils attitudes towards the different accents it is therefore relevant to look into their reactions towards the use of the different accents e.g. by analysing statements about the use of a particular accent as positive or negative. The pupils reactions and statements about the different accents can be affected by their social cognition, their feelings towards the attitude object and their behaviour. These three components 7

8 can all be seen as triggers and causes of attitude (Garrett, 2010, p. 23) and it is therefore relevant to look at the pupils attitudes towards the different accent as structured by these three components Attitude as a structure The pupils attitudes are cognitive as they both contain and compromise the pupils beliefs of the world and their associations between accents and social stereotypes i.e. particular varieties or accents can be associated with e.g. jobs of high status. The pupils attitudes are also affected by their feelings about the object i.e. you can investigate to what extent a pupil expresses favourable or unfavourable feelings towards an accent. Looking into the behavioural aspect of attitude is about whether or not a pupil s tendency to act in certain way is consistent with his/her cognitive and affective judgements (Garrett, 2010, p. 23). When asking about the pupils attitudes towards the different accents, the cognitive aspect is that a pupil might believe that using a particular accent will be more rewarded than others. The affective aspects could be that the pupil like the sound of this particular accent and therefore is interested in using it. From the behavioural point of view, the pupil might not use this accent when speaking for various reasons e.g. difficulties in learning. In other words, a pupil might use one accent when speaking, but express a wish to use another accent. The connection between attitude and behaviour is complex. The behavioural component can be divided in two steps towards the behaviour: the behavioural intentions and consequences and the normative beliefs of reactions to the behaviour on one side, and whether the pupil wish to take these reactions into consideration or not on the other side. When investigating the pupils attitudes in the interviews, it is therefore relevant to ask about the pupils opinions about the different accents in general, to analyse their cognitive beliefs and their feelings towards the accents, and also whether or not they use or wish to use a particular accent, to have them express their opinions and attitudes from a behavioural perspective. The pupils cognitive beliefs are affected by both personal experiences and social environment, including the media (Garrett, 2010, p. 22). From this aspect attitudes are something you learn by e.g. observing other people s behaviour and consequences of this behaviour. Furthermore you judge the consequences of the behaviour observed as being rewarding or not (Garrett, 2010, p. 22). When asking about the pupils opinions about the different accents, it is important to consider if these attitudes are influenced by something they have learned e.g. in school or if their opinions might based on stereotypic views or portrayals in e.g. the media. 8

9 2.1.3 Attitudes are learned Former studies on language attitude have found that distinguishing a standard variety from nonstandard starts when entering the school system (Garrett, 2010, p. 22). In relation to accents, a pupil might believe or experience that the British accent is more rewarded in class and thereby be influenced in his/her belief of the British accent as a standard accent that other accents are measured against. From this aspect teachers can play a great role in influencing the pupils attitudes towards the different accents, consciously or not i.e. their reactions towards the pupil s use of an accent can indicate approval or disproval and thereby influence the pupils attitudes (Garrett, 2010, p. 23). Another factor that can influence pupils attitude towards accents is the media. The media s portrayal of stereotypes and their use of accents can influence pupils attitudes towards them. Stereotyping is the basis of social categorisation i.e. you can categorise people based on shared features that are often exaggerated, such as accents (Garrett, 2010, p. 32). Language attitudes, varieties and styles can trigger beliefs about a speaker and their social group membership, often influenced by language ideologies, leading to stereotypic assumptions about shared characteristics of those group members (Garrett, 2010, p. 33). A language ideology is built upon notions of authority, prestige, correctness, and its maintenance depends on obedience to the authority: speakers tend to confer prestige on language varieties that are seen as those of higher social classes (Garrett, 2010, p. 34). This means that the pupils attitudes towards the different accents can be influenced by ideological positions. When investigating the pupils attitudes it is therefore relevant to see which ideological positions the pupils are influenced by or place themselves in. 2.2 Summary In this chapter we have looked at different aspects of attitude from where the pupils favourable or unfavourable attitudes can be investigated. In my analysis I will analyse the attitudes expressed as a concept of input and output: What are the pupils reactions or opinions about the use of different accents, are their attitudes towards the different accents negative or positive and which accent do they prefer themselves? Furthermore, the pupils cognition, affect and behaviour need to be seen in relation to their opinions expressed: How do they describe the different accents and what associations do they make in connection to the different accents? Furthermore, the pupils attitudes are learned and influenced by various language ideologies, and in my analysis I will 9

10 investigate which kind of language ideology the pupils attitudes expressed lean against. Before analysing pupils attitudes it is relevant to further explain the different language ideologies according to which the pupils position themselves. 2.3 Language ideologies In this report I will focus on two different ideological positions regarding : a standard language ideology i.e. standardisation of and as lingua franca. The aim of a standard language ideology is to gain both clarity and efficiency when communicating e.g. in (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p.18). The aim of using as lingua franca is to obtain a threshold of understanding between speakers who do not share a common language or national culture and to whom is the chosen (foreign) language of communication (Seidlhofer, 2005, p. 339). Efficiency when communicating seems to be the aim for both ideological positions, however their methods and focus for maintaining such efficiency are very different Standardisation of A standard language ideology is often expressed through prescriptions and prescriptive attitudes towards language, which requires a language to be used in the right way (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 1). There are many different opinions between speakers of about what correct and incorrect use of is, and for this reason people often turn to expert opinions instead of relying on their own knowledge of the language (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 1). In Denmark, where is taught as a foreign language the expert opinion of correct usage is often looked for and found among native speakers, dictionaries and handbooks of. Handbooks and grammars are often perceived prescriptive and are used e.g. when teaching, assessing, measuring and testing pupils use of. Though perceived as prescriptive, the authors of the books claim that their work is purely descriptive (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 4). They argue that from a linguistic point of view you cannot place value in a language, based on its form or system and then settle e.g. British as a standard variety that other varieties are inferior or sub-standard to (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 10). This means that placing value into words, accents or uses of language in general, is socially conditioned and has to do with dividing people into different social classes (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 2). Language prescriptions relate to language standardisation, notions of prestige in language and popular attitudes to languages and all three are socially conditioned and can affect the behaviour of individuals. One consequence of this is that if a variety is considered sub-standard, a person speaking this variety might be excluded from certain jobs or be limited in 10

11 his/her social mobility in general. An acceptance of this form of exclusion of individuals, or entire social groups, based on e.g. their accent is a way to discriminate people similar to discrimination based gender or ethnicity (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 2). This means that if a pupil states in the interview that one accent is bad this can be seen as a form of discrimination, based on the notion of a standard and a standard accent that is better or more acceptable. When referring to a standard spoken, a great deal of variety is tolerated, but in written form only the spelling system have successfully given a clear form of standard. Therefore linguistic scholars have often described a standard form of i.e. its grammar and vocabulary, to be spoken in a variety of different accents (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 19). This description is inaccurate, because strictly speaking standardisation does not accept any variability. It is possible to see standardisation of a language as a historical process or ideology, based on various social, political and commercial needs, promoted in different ways. From this perspective Standard can be seen as an idea based on a set of abstract norms to which actual usage may conform to greater or lesser extent (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 19). This point towards the fact that language is a normative phenomenon, and normative beliefs of a Standard are implicitly kept in the handbooks and grammars of. As stated earlier, these handbooks are not intended prescriptive or normative, but the elevation of particular varieties e.g. Southern British (RP) or mainstream American (GenAM) can be seen as a way of legitimising a standard language ideology i.e. Southern British or mainstream American are evaluated to have an authoritative status and perceived as standard forms of (Bex & Watts, Milroy, 2000, p. 26). However, neither of the idealised varieties that are called Standard, e.g. British RP and mainstream American, are uniform entities as both varieties incorporate variability and change (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 21). This means that today there are in fact no standard form of or a standard accent. Having a uniform Standard would mean that the same is spoken, written and understood the same way, throughout the world where has been implanted, but this is not the case (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 20). Today, language use, have spread throughout the world and is spoken in many varieties and accents and the acceptability of e.g. accents is a speakerbased criterion that is based on social and normative beliefs (Bex & Watts, Milroy, 2000, p. 25). When analysing the pupils opinions expressed in the interview, it is therefore necessary to see if there are any possible underlying normative beliefs about the world connected to the accents 11

12 discussed, in order to see if the pupils are influenced by an ideology based on a notion of a standard. The spread of throughout the world, have created another ideological position for the language: as lingua franca. While a standard language ideology would have all speakers of to use the same accent in order to maintain efficiency when communicating, as lingua franca incorporates varied accents and focuses on the methods used for gaining mutual understanding including variation in language and accents. However, there is some dispute about the definition and description of as lingua franca. The following is an account for as lingua franca as lingua franca Lingua franca (LF) as a term refers to a contact language used among people who do not share a common first language (L1). Originally it referred to a pidgin language used along the coast in the Mediterranean, and it is believed to be based on Italian dialects containing elements from Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, Turkish a.o. (Berns, 2013, p. 2). One key feature of a lingua franca language is its hybrid nature (Jenkins, 2007, p. 1). Many languages have functioned as lingua franca through time e.g. Latin functioned as a lingua franca during the building of the Roman Empire as it was the official language of the Catholic Church in Rome and of science and diplomacy in Europe. At first it was mainly used by the upper class of the population, however quickly spread through all layers of society and eventually developed into different varieties creating a.o. Spanish and French (Berns, 2013, p. 2). Today is functioning as lingua franca (ELF). However, the use of as lingua franca today should not be compared directly to the original definition of a lingua franca. The original lingua franca was used as regional trading language, while as lingua franca today has global reach and no specific purpose (Mortensen, 2013, p. 27). The new function of as lingua franca is a development due to the spread of British and American through colonialism and globalization after World War II and have now become the language of trade, commerce, diplomacy, science, technology, international law, international travel, tourism and entertainment (Berns, 2013, p. 3). Although is accepted as a language of wider communication there is much disagreement about how to define as lingua franca. 12

13 Going back to the early definition of lingua franca, used as lingua franca functions as a contact language between people with different L1 languages. However this definition excludes native speakers (NS) of, meaning that people with as L1 do not use as lingua franca. Or do they? In international settings e.g. political gatherings like NATO, both NS of and Non-Native speakers (NNs) of are present and participate in ELF interaction. Therefore NSs of cannot be excluded from a definition of ELF (Jenkins, 2007, p. 2). To accommodate this problem some use terms like as an International Language (EIL). They claim that ELF interaction is between NNs of and EIL includes both NNS and NS interaction. However, while some describe EIL to be communication between NNs of, others use EIL as reference to all forms of language worldwide, which then means EIL covers a broad use of (Jenkins, 2007, p. 2). One reason to distinguish between EIL and ELF is that the term ELF has an advantage it does not share with the term EIL: ELF emphasizes the role of in communication between speakers from different L1 languages it implies that mixing languages is acceptable and thus there is nothing inherently wrong in retaining certain characteristics of the L1, such as accent (Jenkins, 2007, p. 4) In addition to this description some claim ELF to be a language that today is emerging on its own right and therefore can be described on its own terms without comparison to as native language (ENL), making ELF part of EIL i.e. as a type of language spoken in the world. However, ELF cannot be defined as an emerging language in its own as this would mean ELF is a language with its own system and form, but no current empirical data collected or its results show proof that ELF is in fact a language (Mortensen, 2013, p. 25), though research on ELF have set out to prove certain characteristics of as a lingua franca i.e. ELF as a language Researching as lingua franca Different types of research have been carried out in order to describe ELF and to have it accepted as a language alongside native. The research set out to see how ELF looks and sounds like and how it is actually being used. One example is a study of the s variable e.g. the distinction between she run and she runs (Mortensen, 2013, p. 31). The studies found that users of ELF frequently used the zero variant instead of the standard s variant and proposed this as a characteristic feature of ELF. However, the use of the zero variant is not common in all cases of ELF interaction. Furthermore, this characteristic is not unique to ELF as there are also cases of use of the zero variant in L1 L1 interaction (Mortensen, 2013, p. 32). Another case claimed to be characteristic of 13

14 ELF is the let-it-pass procedure. Firth s studies, from 1996, points out that there is a tendency in ELF interactions to normalize trouble sources to retain a threshold of understanding through a let it pass principle. In other words, errors in pronunciation or grammar are overlooked if the message is still clear and an understanding is obtained (House, 2003, p. 558). This characteristic is based on a communicative strategy, while the s variable is about lexicogrammar. The critique of the let-itpass procedure as characteristic of ELF is based on the fact that this communicative strategy can be explained more as a function of the type and purpose of the interaction. Furthermore, the use of a let-it-pass procedure to achieve mutual understanding is not common in all cases of ELF interaction, nor unique to ELF: letting it pass cannot be said to be a communicative strategy that is somehow characteristic of, or special to ELF interaction. It is a basic interpretive procedure that human beings follow in order to make sense of the world, including the interaction that it takes place in (Mortensen, 2013, p. 34). The examples with the s variable and the let-it-pass procedures can be claimed to be descriptions of the use of ELF, but not characteristics or prove of as a Lingua Franca. According to Seidlhofer, ELF can be defined as a contact language between persons who share neither a common native tongue nor a common (national) culture, and for whom is the chosen foreign language of communication (Seidlhofer, 2005, p. 339). This definition of ELF includes interaction between NNSs and NSs of, but still refers to ELF as a language system, which cannot be proved with the empirical data available so far (Mortensen, 2013, p. 25). Janus Mortensen offers another definition describing ELF as the use of in a lingua franca language scenario (Mortensen, 2013, p. 36). 2.4 Summary Both a standard language ideology and ELF are aiming towards efficiency when communicating in. However a standard language ideology is based on the idea that everyone should use the same i.e. the same accent when communicating in. From a lingua franca point of view, the use of accent seems irrelevant when the aim is to gain a mutual understanding when communicating in. Through my analysis I will investigate where the pupils position themselves in relation to these concepts. Do the pupils believe there are or should be a standard form of and accent that speakers of should use, and in this case which one? Or do the pupils use as lingua franca where the focus is on the purpose of the 14

15 communication and varied accents are accepted and considered of minor importance in the speaking situation? Before analysing the pupils attitudes in relation to the two ideologies, I will give a review of how the two interviews where planned and executed and which reflections I made when choosing a qualitative method for my research. 3 Methodology As stated in my introduction, I have chosen a qualitative method for my research and more specific the focus group interview. In this chapter I will explain my reasons for choosing a qualitative method, my reasons for choosing to do two focus group interviews followed by an account of how the interviews were planned and executed. 3.1 Qualitative method The reason for choosing a qualitative method lies in the fact that I want to investigate attitudes among secondary pupils and according to Holliday to understand human affairs it is insuffient to rely on quantitative survey and statistics, and necessary instead to delve deep into the subjective qualities that govern behaviour (Holliday, 2007, p. 7). A qualitative research will give me the opportunity to look at subjective opinions expressed explicitly thereby find attitudes that are implicitly expressed and what these attitudes have been influenced by. A quantitative method e.g. using a questionnaire, would have given me answers to my questions, but I would not have been able to investigate if e.g. the respondents answered according to their own opinions, or if their answers would be based on what they think their opinions about a given question should be. Furthermore a qualitative method gives me the opportunity to take behavioural aspects into consideration i.e. investigate the pupils behaviour within a specific social setting, which can lead me into unforeseen discoveries (Holliday, 2007, p. 5) e.g. how the pupils influence each other or how the presence of fellow pupils might affect the answers given in the interviews. Another reason for choosing a qualitative method is that I wanted to investigate language attitudes towards accents, within a specific setting, and present my results as bits of life available for various interpretations, my own being just one possible interpretation (Holliday, 2007, p. 6). A quantitative method based on questionnaires would have been suitable if I wanted to make statistics 15

16 of my findings to use as representatives of e.g. all secondary pupils attitudes. However, this has never been my aim with this report. Other types of research have also found that when people are asked questions about languages e.g. which form of they use, people tend to answer according to what form of language they think is socially accepted, rather than the form they actually use, making it difficult to abduct attitudes from e.g. questionnaires (Milroy & Milroy, 2003, p. 15). I wanted the pupils to make statements and opinions about accent, and then analyse these statements to find underlying attitudes expressed. The qualitative method I have chosen to use is the focus group interview. I have chosen to do one group interview with 6 pupils from a regular school and one with 4 pupils from an international school. The following is a review of the reflections I made regarding choosing the focus group interview as the method for my research, and reflections when planning, executing and analysing my empirical data. 3.2 The Focus Group Interview The reason for choosing the focus group interview was first of because I wanted to research various perspectives on language attitudes and possible beliefs behind these attitudes. Second of all I wanted to have the opportunity to investigate unforeseen factors that could be brought up in relation to a discussion about attitudes towards different accents. David L. Morgan defines the focus group interview as a research technique that collects data through group interaction on a topic determined by the researcher (Morgan, 1997, p. 6). The two focus group interviews allowed me to investigate the data collected in relation to a number of factors such as group interaction and influence. Debbie G.E. Ho, has made a list of what focus groups interviews are useful for investigating (Chapelle, 2013, Ho, Focus Groups, p. 2): Table 1 The appropriateness of focus group interviews Focus groups are useful for: Focus groups are not useful for: finding new information (e.g., a new product) and consolidating old information (e.g., examining people s habits) gaining a variety of perspectives on a topic from respondents themselves (i.e., research that seeks for consensus of opinions or looks to educate people seeking sensitive information that should not be shared in a group 16

17 their beliefs, views, attitudes, motivations, etc. exploring respondents shared experiences of everyday life (e.g., language use, culture, etc) brainstorming and generating ideas resulting from respondents providing different angles to problems and offering different solutions exploring controversial and complex issues (e.g., Chiu & Knight, 1999) statistical projections polarized issues where a group discussion could intensify the conflict research where other methodologies can produce better quality information more economically sensitive topics where it is difficult to ensure the confidentiality of data produced In accordance to the bullet points that Ho lists on the left side of her table above, the two focus group interviews allowed me to find new information about Danish secondary pupils attitudes and at the same it gave me the opportunity to see what underlying beliefs and ideology have affected the attitudes expressed through the opinions. Furthermore, with a group discussion, I was able to explore controverting and various attitudes regarding different accents. My research is focused around opinions and attitudes, and I believe the best way to investigate such entities is to have them discussed in a setting where controverting views and the underlying beliefs can be brought forward. Doing a focus group interview, as oppose to single interviews, made me able to look into various opinions as well as the group dynamic and the interaction between the respondents. These factors can play a great role, when it comes to discussing topics such as language use and culture e.g. some of the pupils were corrected in their choice of words and some respondents tended to only express their views on some accents implicitly, or held back in expressing their opinions. Such actions proved to be of great importance when analysing the various attitudes expressed in the two interviews. When analysing the data collected from the focus group interview I will go by an interpretative approach. One challenge when using an interpretative approach is about managing objectiveness in ones research: Research needs to be accompanied by accounts of how it was really done (Holliday, 2007, p. 7). When designing my focus group interviews I was inspired by some rules of thumb listed by David L. Morgan. The rules of thumb are (a) use homogeneous strangers as participants, (b) rely on a relatively structured interview with high moderator involvement, (c) have 17

18 6 to 10 participants per group and (d) have a total of three to five groups per project (Morgan, 1997, pp. 34). According to Morgan, these rules of thumb should be looked at as descriptions of how focus group interview are often done, not as prescriptions of how to do a focus groups (Morgan, 1997, p. 34). Therefore, my group interview and their design may be based on these rules of thumb, but my method and research do not match each of the four criteria. The following is an account of how my two focus group interviews was planned and executed Designing the focus group To answer my research question, I have chosen to focus on pupils from secondary school. This choice was mainly made because I want to teach in secondary school. In Denmark there are different types of secondary schools. For my research, I wanted to choose pupils from the STX den almene studentereksamen, due to the fact that in STX covers a broad range of topics and general knowledge about language, culture and countries, whereas other types of school, such as the HHX, mainly focuses on in connection to trade and business (bekendtgørelsen for HHX, The subject in STX is identified as followed: Engelsk er et færdighedsfag, et vidensfag og et kulturfag. Faget beskæftiger sig med engelsk sprog, engelsksprogede kulturer og globale forhold ( In my research I wanted respondents both from a regular STX and an international STX. The purpose of this is to see whether attending an international school can influence the pupils attitudes to be different when compared to attitudes expressed among pupils from a regular STX. According to the rules of thumb you should have a total of three to five groups per project. I decided only to have two groups of respondents because of the limited number of schools I had access to and furthermore I did not believe that comparing attitudes among pupils from several school would not necessarily have brought more quality into my research, but only made it more challenging and time-consuming. The choice of the particular secondary schools was based on various factors. In an earlier project I had cooperated with a regular private STX, and I therefore first contacted the teachers at this school and requested their help. One teacher answered and made his class of first year pupils available for me to choose respondents from. 18

19 The choice of the international STX was then based on the choice of the regular STX. Given that the regular STX was within the Copenhagen area, I wanted the International school to be as well. Logistically it would be timesaving for me to keep my interviews within the Copenhagen area instead of traveling across the country to e.g. Jutland. Furthermore geographically differences can play a great role to attitudes, but geographically factor or influences are not the focus in this investigation. I send out request to four different schools with IB in the Copenhagen area and one school offered their help. Forward on in this report, the regular STX will be called School A and the international school is school B. The Respondents In my request to the different schools I asked for permission to observe and audio record some lessons before choosing my respondents. The aim was to observe the pupils use of and accents in class and to observe group dynamics before choosing my respondents. In relation to the first rule of thumb: (a) use homogeneous strangers (Morgan, 1997, p. 34) the goal is to have homogeneity in background, not in attitudes. Therefore I wanted my respondents to be from the same age group and from the same class, so they would be comfortable expressing their opinions freely, but still be strangers in the aspect that the pupils I would choose as respondents would not necessarily be best friends and express similar attitudes. Furthermore, choosing respondents from the same class meant the pupils had shared experiences regarding their learning of in school, which they brought up and discussed in the two interviews. At the regular secondary school I observed four lessons finding that all pupils were active and comfortable raising their hands in class and working together across different groupings. During a group exercise I asked the different pupils in class, whether or not they would be interested in participating in a group interview about. This was a general question, as I did not want to affect their opinions or thoughts in advance. However, the pupils wanted to know more about the interview and the types of questions they would be asked and I had to specify that it was not a test and that I wanted to know about their thoughts and opinions about e.g. accents and cultures. Knowing they would not be tested in anything, they more than willingly signed up for an interview. I wrote down all the names of the pupils volunteering and at the end of the fourth lesson I called up 6 names I had randomly chosen for the interview: four girls and two boys. 19

20 It was more challenging choosing respondents among pupils in school B. At the time I contacted the school, a lot of the pupils were abroad on field trips or preparing for finals. Therefore the teacher at the school B could only offer me to observe one lesson. Furthermore, the teacher offered to pass on a request to all the pupils at the IB school to find respondents. I wrote a request to all Danish pupils at school B, asking them to contact me if they would be interested in participating in a group interview about attitudes towards accents and culture (Appendix 6). 3 pupils replied on and the teacher assured me that I would be able to find three more after observing her lesson. 4 pupils signed up for the interview when I observed the lesson, which left me with a group of 7 Danish pupils from school B, the international school. However, due to some unexpected occurrences accounted for in the following, only 4 pupils showed up: 2 boys and 2 girls. Challenges In relation to the third rule of thumb (c) have 6 to 10 participants per group (Morgan, 1997, p. 34) I wanted to have 6 respondents in each group. This choice was based on the recommendation that the number should be low enough so each respondent would be able to express their thoughts and opinions, but high enough so that various opinions and attitudes would come forward (HO, 2013, p. 2). However, only four pupils from school B showed up for the interview. This was due to some change in their schedule and the fact that the date and time of the interview could only be in the afternoon on the day before the Easter holiday. This meant that two of the pupils who signed up on , had to go away on vacation. This meant that only the four pupils who had signed up in the lesson I observed, showed up for the actual interview: In order to compare the two interviews, the pupils had to be on the same level in Upper Secondary Education. It would not make sense to compare first year pupils from a regular secondary school to e.g. third year pupils from an international school, as too many factors would interfere with the comparison. However, the IB programme on the international school, have a different structure compared to regular secondary school. In my first request to the different schools, I did not express any preference regarding first, second or third year pupils. However, establishing the contact with the teacher at the regular secondary school, who had first year pupils, I made a further request to the international schools that I wished to be able to choose among first year pupils. First year pupils in international schools are enrolled in a pre-ib programme, which can be compared to the first year in a regular secondary school. During this year the pupils choose whether or not they wish to be enrolled in the IB programme in the following two years, or if they want to continue in the regular 20

21 secondary programmes. This means that first year IB pupils are in fact second year pupils. For my research I thought it was important that the IB pupils were in fact in the IB programmes, so I would be able to analyse what influence an international backdrop in school could have regarding the pupils attitudes. Therefore the two focus groups were in fact first year pupils from a regular secondary school and second year pupils on an international school, but first year IB Designing the interview I chose to do the interviews on the location of the two different schools. The schools functioned as common ground and known surroundings for the pupils. My plan was to set date and time according to the pupils schedule and after school activity, so that the interview would interfere as little as possible in the pupils everyday life. The teacher at the regular secondary school made it possible for me to interview the six pupils from his class during a double lesson, as the topic was subject relevant. The interview at the international school was set after hours on the day before the Easter Holiday as said. When signing up for the interview, both groups had agreed to be recorded both on audio and video. Doing the interview I had two edirol audio recorders and two videos filming from different angles. The pupils in both groups were placed around a table, in order for the interaction to be first and foremost between the pupils. According to the second rule of thumb rely on relatively structured interview with high moderator involvement (Morgan, 1997, p. 34) I wanted to be able to control which topics should be discussed among the pupils, but not interfere or discuss with the pupils. As interviewer I too had to take part in the interaction, when asking the questions, but it was important for me that the pupils would face each other when discussing, and not answer directly too me. I wanted to keep my role as interviewer, not as a teacher in a classroom. I placed myself at the table with the pupils, so I could ask the questions, but without interfering in the pupils discussion. The way I placed myself at the table and my interaction as interviewer functioned well in both groups. The pupils faced me when I asked the questions, however mostly faced each other when talking and expressing their views. There was a natural break when the pupils were finished discussing a question or topic, and the pupils then faced me again as a sign that they were ready for a new question. 21

22 3.2.3 Designing the questions Before I designed the interview questions I considered whether to do the interviews in Danish or. If I chose to have them in, I would be able to look into the accents the respondents used, when analysing the transcript data. At the same the accents that the pupils would use might not be expression for their attitudes towards the accent or the culture behind it, but simply an unconsciously effect due to other factors. But having the discussion in could also mean that the pupils would have some difficulty in expressing themselves and what they believe or to talk freely. Some pupils might hold back, due to insecurity in speaking. They might also have some difficulties in understanding the questions asked. Based on the fact that I want to analyse the pupils attitudes through their opinions and statements, I chose to have the interview in Danish. I believed that having the interview in Danish would mean that the pupils would express themselves more freely and it will be easier for me to interpret on what they are saying explicitly and implicitly. In addition, my aim is to investigate pupils language attitudes towards different accent and not what accents the pupils use. When designing the interview it was my aim to make the questions as general and undefined as possible, without risking not being able to analyse the pupils attitudes. As example instead of asking the pupils what they think about America or Britain I asked what speaking countries they know about. This way the pupils defined what an speaking country is, according to them. The questions were structured in three areas: in everyday life and school, countries and cultures and accents. The first topic contained questions about what the pupils use for on an everyday basis and in school. The purpose of this was to ease the pupils into talking about their use of in different areas and to know about their thoughts about in Denmark in general like when and where they use, what their purpose of learning is and if they believe is necessary in Danish society today. The second topic involved questions about speaking countries and cultures. I wanted the pupils to define an speaking country and elaborate on some of the opinions and possible prejudices they have about different speaking countries. The purpose of this was to see if 22