Multilingualism, linguistic ownership and ethnic identity : attitudes to, and use of, Mauritian
This dissertation aims to shed more light on usersâ attitudes to Mauritian in two specific domains: writing and education. Through the triangulation of such methods as interviews, perceptual dialectology questionnaires and participant observation, I explain some of the local language ideologies and also provide a comprehensive view of the linguistic situation in Mauritius. This study shows that attitudes towards Mauritian in the written domain and in the education sector vary significantly. For some Mauritians, Mauritian remains an oral language. Those who do write Mauritian adopt a number of spelling systems. I show how the choice of an orthographic system reflects linguistic and social hierarchies and consequently, is not ideologically neutral. Also, the (perceived) lack of standard for Mauritian is an obstacle to its promotion in the school system. Generally, the non-standard and broken nature of Mauritian, its limited use outside Mauritius and its perceived role as an index of Creole identity are seen as obstacles to its promotion in the written domain and education sector; while its importance as a mother-tongue and its function as a tool of national unity and index of national identity support its
Rajah-Carrim, Aaliya
Multilingualism, linguistic ownership and ethnic identity : attitudes to, and use of, Mauritian. This dissertation aims to shed more light on usersâ attitudes to Mauritian in two specific domains: writing and education. Through the triangulation of such methods as interviews, perceptual dialectology questionnaires and participant observation, I explain some of the local language ideologies and also provide a comprehensive view of the linguistic situation in Mauritius. This study shows that attitudes towards Mauritian in the written domain and in the education sector vary significantly. For some Mauritians, Mauritian remains an oral language. Those who do write Mauritian adopt a number of spelling systems. I show how the choice of an orthographic system reflects linguistic and social hierarchies and consequently, is not ideologically neutral. Also, the (perceived) lack of standard for Mauritian is an obstacle to its promotion in the school system. Generally, the non-standard and broken nature of Mauritian, its limited use outside Mauritius and its perceived role as an index of Creole identity are seen as obstacles to its promotion in the written domain and education sector; while its importance as a mother-tongue and its function as a tool of national unity and index of national identity support its
multilingualism linguistic ownership ethnic_identity attitude use aim_shed light user attitude specific domain write education triangulation method interview perceptual dialectology questionnaire participant_observation explain local language_ideology also_provide comprehensive view linguistic_situation mauritius study_show attitude_towards write domain education sector vary significantly remain oral language write adopt number spell system show choice orthographic system reflect linguistic social_hierarchy consequently ideologically neutral also perceive lack standard obstacle promotion school system generally non_standard broken nature limited use outside mauritius perceive role index creole identity see obstacle promotion write domain education sector importance mother_tongue function tool national_unity index national_identity support