Abstract

This matched guised study investigated young Quebecers' attitudes towards English and French and the speakers of those languages. A total of 414 participants rated the voices of 4 bilinguals (males and females) reading in English and French in terms of fourteen traits (e.g., kindness, sense of humor, level of education) and a socio-economic scale. In this adaptation of the classic study by Lambert, Hodgson, Gardner and Fillenbaum (1960), students from both ethnolinguistic heritages in English and French colleges participated as raters. Participants consistently rated the English guises more favorably on almost all of traits, and no French guises were favored on any of the characteristics investigated. Some results indicate that higher L2 proficiency and contact with members of "the other" ethnolinguistic group correlates with more balanced views.