Perceived ethnolinguistic vitality and language attitudes: The Israeli setting

Abstract

This study investigated the ethnolinguistic vitality perceptions of Jewish and Arab high school students in Israel. Results showed that the perceptions of both groups corresponded remarkably to objective reality in direction although not in intensity. The significant interactions reflected divergent perceptions of the degree of difference between the two groups rather than opposing cognitions of the type reported in studies from other contexts. Generally, the Jewish majority accentuated the differences and the Arab minority attenuated them. This finding is discussed in terms of Tajfel's social identity theory. Within the Jewish group, significant differences in perceptions were found between those students studying Arabic as an additional language and those studying French. This supports previous research on intragroup variation. Finally, the relationship between perceived vitality and language attitudes was investigated. For both groups, attitudes toward both Hebrew and Arabic were primarily related to the status dimension of the vitality construct and to perceptions of overall vitality. However, Arabs’ attitudes toward their own language represent a more complex network of relationships. This is also discussed in the context of social identity theory.