Comparing the Language Aptitudes and Language Attitudes of Mono-and Bilingual Burgenland Croats

Abstract

Research on bi- and multilingualism in connection to language aptitude has primarily shown that they are mostly positively related. Yet, learning a foreign language is not only associated with a person’s language aptitude, but language attitudes can also play a vital role. Having a high language aptitude does not necessarily result in acquiring a language more easily than someone who is highly motivated to learn a specific language and whose language attitudes regarding that tongue are positive. Thus, it seems reasonable to investigate both language aptitudes and language attitudes, especially of a minority group such as Burgenland Croats, as it could be argued that their minority language, Burgenland Croatian, is facing language death. Given previous research on bi- and multilingualism, it was assumed that bilingual Burgenland Croats have a higher language aptitude than monolingual Burgenland Croats. Additionally, because of their assumed closer affiliation with Burgenland Croatian and its corresponding culture and tradition, it was deduced that they have a more positive attitude towards their minority language. These hypotheses were tested by means of the MLAT Part V, as well as the LLAMA_B (online version) and an attitudes questionnaire. Calculations were done by using IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 23). The research has shown that bilingual Burgenland Croats have a more positive attitude towards their minority language.