Frisian - “seducing” or “pushing down the throat”? Language attitudes of adolescent pupils and experts’ views

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MA THESIS

Frisian - “seducing” or “pushing down the throat”?

Language attitudes of adolescent pupils and experts’ views

towards the contribution of

Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches in a

minority language region

Makarova Irina S4070216

MA in Multilingualism Faculty of Arts University of Groningen Supervisors: Dr. J. Duarte Dr. A. Joubert Leeuwarden, July 2020

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A

BSTRACT

The growing linguistic diversity in the educational sphere in the officially bilingual Province of Fryslân is challenging teachers to learn how to deal with diverse language classes and shift from monolingual ideologies towards multilingual views and practices. Language attitudes towards the minority language Frisian are less positive among pupils leading to a decrease in their motivation and lower academic performance in this language (Oliver & Purdie, 1998; Tragant & Muñoz, 2000). Hence, it is suggested that motivation can be raised by being engaged with a language at different levels (Cummins 2000) and not learning it isolatedly (Vila, 1993 in Lasagabaster &

Huguet, 2006).

The following research has been conducted within the scope of the Erasmus+ LoCALL project which was developed with the aim to raise and enhance pupils' language awareness through conducting activities related to Linguistic Landscapes (Helmchen, LoCALL, 2019). Through a mixed-methods approach (Creswell, 2014), the study aims to investigate language attitudes of 117 secondary school pupils in the minority speaking region, Province of Fryslân by analysing questionnaires. Furthermore, interviews with eight teachers and three teacher trainers, representing experts in their field, were conducted to obtain more in-depth insight into their views and beliefs towards the Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches as possible ways to enhance pupils' language attitudes and motivation to learn a minority language, such as Frisian.

In this mixed-method study, statistical analyses examined the attitudes of the pupils towards Dutch, Frisian and English. Using a thematic analysis (TA; Braun & Clarke, 2006), we have analysed and provided an overview of the most salient themes within the qualitative data. The results showed several patterns related to the language background and language proficiency of the pupils. Interviews showed that teachers held positive beliefs about the value of Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches. However, when it came to actual teaching practices, their behaviour was not consistent with their established beliefs. Combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches offered an in-depth and thorough understanding of the language attitudes of the secondary school students of Fryslân and experts' views on how to improve them. This study offers a contribution to the field of language teaching in minority areas by arguing for a need to revise the curriculum and increase the role of the Frisian language to guarantee that the language continues to be vital.

Keywords: multilingualism in education, pupils’ language attitudes, language awareness, translanguaging, Frisian, minority languages

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisor, dr. Juana Duarte, for her support and guidance throughout different stages of the writing of this thesis and for giving me valuable feedback. Furthermore, I wish to express my gratitude to Marcela Huilcan, whose enthusiasm and encouragement helped me to keep working at moments of instability due to COVID-19. I also sincerely wish to thank all participants who contributed their time to answer my questions and share their views and beliefs and teachers who allowed me to conduct questionnaires during their classes. Last but not least, thanks to my partner, Tristanush Mayo, who supported me in the decision to continue my studying and obtain a master’s degree, and without whom my journey to the Netherlands would not be possible.

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4.1. Adolescent pupils’ attitudes towards languages in a minority language region 36 4.2. Factors influencing pupils’ language attitudes 37 4.2.1. Language background and language attitudes 37 4.2.2. Gender and language attitudes 39 4.2.3. Language Proficiency and language attitudes 40 4.2.4. Language use and language attitudes 41 4.2.5. Factors influencing the language attitudes 42 4.3. Teachers’ and teacher trainers’ opinions about the contribution of Language Awareness and

Translanguaging approaches 44

4.3.1. Beliefs relating to the pupils’ language attitudes 44 4.3.2. Opinions on factors influencing language attitudes 47 4.3.3 Beliefs and practices relating to the Language Awareness approach 48 4.3.4. Beliefs relating to Translanguaging practices 53

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5. Discussion 56 5.1. Adolescent pupils' attitudes towards languages in a minority language region 56 5.2. Factors influencing pupils' language attitudes 57 5.3. Teachers' and teacher trainers' opinions about the contribution of Language Awareness and

Translanguaging approaches 59

5.4. Limitations and recommendations for further research 60

6. Conclusion 62 References 65 Appendices 76 I. Questionnaire 76 Dutch version 76 English version 91

II. Questions of the semi-structured interviews 100

III. Interview transcripts 102

Interview T.1 102 Interview T.2 109 Interview T.3 112 Interview T.4 117 Interview T.5 121 Interview T.6 127 Interview T.7 133 Interview T.8 143 Interview T.T.1 145 Interview T.T.2 149 Interview T.T.3 152

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1. Introduction

Monolingual ideologies have been influencing teaching practices for a long time, meaning that school languages are often taught separately during lessons (Cummins, 2014) and that implicit language hierarchies make teaching languages with a higher status more urgent than focusing on languages with a lower status, such as migrant or minority languages. Regarding the situation in minority language regions, in order to protect and improve proficiency in minority languages, schools tend to maintain the ideology of keeping languages strictly separated so as to maximise input (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017), which has been found to cause "emotional disempowerment" of young learners (Osterkorn & Vetter, 2015). Recently, it has been observed that teaching methods are dynamically shifting from being influenced by monolingual ideologies to those influenced by multilingual views and practices due to the growing mobility and diversity of the population (Cenoz & Gorter, 2020). This had been termed “the multilingual turn” in language education (Conteh & Meyer, 2014; May, 2014) and has been mostly studied in the context of migrant or indigenous languages. Additionally, the internet and social media contribute to the fact that languages are becoming increasingly in direct contact with each other. Within the field of multilingual education, approaches that acknowledge multilingual learners and their diverse linguistic repertoires have started to replace the concept of isolated linguistic practices (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017). Language isolation ideologies used to promote minority languages therefore need to be adjusted to the new challenges (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017). Up to date, little is however known about the ways in which pupils and teachers in minority language regions perceive these changes. The current study was conducted in the province of Fryslân in the Netherlands. The official language of this area is Frisian, which is spoken by approximately 55% of the province’s population, and about 12% of the citizens speak migrant languages (Provinsje Fryslân, 2015 in Duarte, 2019). As the province has never been a homogeneous language region, the increasing presence of immigrant languages in educational institutions has caused new challenges to emerge, meaning that teachers and schools are now looking for new strategies and methods to deal with the higher linguistic diversity (Mercator, 2017). Moreover, due to the increasing presence of Dutch in the province, Frisian is less spoken and utilised in social domains (Gorter, 2005). Consequently, language attitudes towards the minority language Frisian are less positive among pupils, leading to a decrease in their motivation and lower academic performance in this language (Oliver & Purdie, 1998; Tragant & Muñoz, 2000). Therefore, investigating young adolescents' language attitudes can provide insights into the possible ways in which didactical methods can be generated to respond to the actual needs of the pupils (Duarte, 2019).

With regard to the development of language attitudes, teachers’ ideologies and beliefs play a crucial role in pupils' attitudes towards languages (Lasagabaster & Huguet, 2006). As teachers’ beliefs are directly linked to their pedagogical practices in the class, their choice of teaching strategies and approaches plays a vital role in the development of pupils' motivation and attitudes

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towards learning the minority language (Pajares, 1992). As mentioned in previous studies (Hélot, 2017; Ibarran, Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2008; Verra, 2004), acknowledging pupils' linguistic backgrounds as resources for learning can increase their positive attitudes and motivation. The implementation of Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches in the class might therefore increase language attitudes with the aim to develop and promote a new linguistic culture in the context of multilingual education, which can contribute to tackling the challenges related to multilingualism (Hélot, 2017).

This study seeks to gain insight into pupils' language attitudes towards Dutch, Frisian and English and explore the factors influencing these attitudes by using a questionnaire. Furthermore, with the help of interviews (Galletta, 2012) with teachers and teacher trainers, this study further aims to gain insight into their views and beliefs towards the Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches aimed to enhance pupils' motivation to learn minority languages, such as Frisian. This study was conducted within the scope of the Erasmus+ LoCALL project, which was developed with the aim to raise and enhance students' language awareness through conducting activities related to Linguistic Landscapes (Helmchen, LoCALL, 2019). To capture the pupils' language attitudes, this study applied a questionnaire to collect data from 117 pupils in two Frisian schools in Leeuwarden. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews with eight teachers and three teacher trainers were conducted in order to gain insight into their views and beliefs towards the Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches as a way to enhance pupils' language attitudes and motivation to learn the minority language, namely Frisian. The employment of a mixed-methods design offers an in-depth and thorough understanding of the language attitudes of the secondary school students of Fryslân and views on how to improve them. In this study, the implementation of Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches is put forward as a key element in ensuring the success of learning the minority language Frisian and fostering positive attitudes towards it. Moreover, raising awareness of the value that culture and language have for minority language communities has gradually become recognised as one of the significant aspects in language education in regions where efforts are being made to promote minority languages (Egaña, Gorter, & Cenoz, 2015). The following research questions will be addressed:

1. What are adolescent pupils' attitudes towards languages in a minority language region?

2. What factors influence pupils’ language attitudes?

3. From the teachers' perspective, to what extent can the implementation of Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches contribute to the enhancement of pupils' motivation to learn minority languages, such as Frisian?

The study is presented in six chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the research topic. The second chapter presents the relevant theoretical background information and the key concepts at the core of this study. Then, the methodology, including the research design, settings, sample, instruments, procedures and analysis, is discussed in Chapter 3. This is followed by Chapter 4, in

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which the outcomes from both the questionnaire and the interviews are presented in response to the research questions. Further, the explanation and interpretation of the results as well as recommendations and limitations of the current study are discussed in Chapter 5. Finally, Chapter 6 reviews and summarises the most salient findings by drawing some conclusions.

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2 .

Theoretical background: Language attitudes and language

teaching in minority language areas

In this chapter, some of the key concepts and literature related to the research study will be reviewed. The chapter starts with the discussion of the relationship between motivation and attitudes, further focusing on pupils' attitudes towards languages in the province of Fryslân and other minority-speaking regions. Next, we review parents' and teachers' language attitudes and their possible effects on children's motivation and attitudes. Finally, we discuss the key approaches of Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches, as pedagogical practices aimed to enhance students' motivation and foster positive attitudes towards minority languages.

2.1. Language Attitudes

Language is seen as a "powerful social force" (Cargile, Giles, Ryan, & Bradac, 1994), and, consequently, language attitudes have implications at institutional, societal, individual and interpersonal levels, impacting individual's decision-making and perception (Giles & Billings, 2004). The concept of attitudes can be defined as "a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour" (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Another definition is given by Aiken (2002, p. 3): "Combining elements from several definitions, attitudes may be viewed as learned cognitive, affective, and behavioural predispositions to respond positively or negatively to certain objects, situations, institutions, concepts, or persons." Referring to this definition, attitudes are learned, and they might be partially moulded by people's past inference processes, experiences and information. In many cases, a person's information sources, and various experiences, are a factor of social group belonging. Therefore, language attitudes might vary across various social divisions such as socio-economic status, regional or ethnic group, age and sex (Knops & Hout, 1988).

Another element of the definition is that attitudes include three components such as affective (feelings), behavioural (actions) and cognitive (beliefs). These three dimensions have been mentioned by various authors (Baker, 1992; Cargile et al., 1994). Attitudes are cognitive because they imply beliefs about the world, such as "English is a useful language to know". These beliefs are generally described as stereotypes and are one of the most analysed attitudinal components. Attitudes are seen as affective as they include feelings toward a specific object. Lastly, attitudes are described as behavioural in that they promote and encourage people to action in certain ways (Cargile, & Bradac, 2001). As attitudes are formed in a particular situation or environment (Aiken, 2002), the same language might trigger different feelings, behaviours or beliefs in various settings, because cultural elements such as historical, political, linguistic and economic realities can influence language attitudes (Cargile et al., 1994). Hence, this makes studies on language attitudes necessary and relevant.

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In the context of sociolinguistics, language attitudes usually refer to attitudes towards language varieties, languages, language behaviour and language variants (Knops & van Hout, 1988). They play an important role in the overall evaluation of children from various linguistic backgrounds. Commonly, educational approaches, aiming to find a solution for language variation difficulties in schools, emphasise on the significant importance of positive attitudes towards students' home languages (Münstermann, 1988). Moreover, the formation of positive attitudes tends to increase pupils' academic achievements and improve their well-being (Duarte, 2019).

Building bridges between various ethnolinguistic groups in education and increasing contact between pupils of various groups can contribute to foster positive attitudes towards languages (Lasagabaster, 2017). Especially contexts in which there is a raise of pupils coming from different linguistic backgrounds due to global migration flows, the promotion of cultural and language awareness can prompt pupils to increase and develop a multilingual and multicultural understanding of themselves as multilingual speakers (Pedrosa & Lasagabaster, 2011) and surmount possible negative language attitudes (Lasagabaster, 2017). After examining German- speaking pupils’ attitudes towards Sorbian language education, Dołowy-Rybińska (2018) shared similar views and emphasised the importance of teaching a language through contact and creating more practice opportunities for learners in order to build social relations among pupils from different linguistic backgrounds. Moreover, in minority language education, cross-cultural attitudes as well as intercultural skills and behavior are highly important as they give pupils a feeling of belonging to a group and help to create a collective identity (Dołowy-Rybińska, 2018).

2.1.1 Relationships between positive language attitudes and high motivation

Motivation and attitudes are two independent learning variables which are closely interlinked (Isidro & Lasagabaster, 2020). While language attitudes are related to negative or positive feelings about a target language and the connections made through it (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993), Gardner (1985) defined motivation as a combination of three parts: the desire or willingness to learn the language, positive attitudes towards the language and the effort made into learning (Isidro & Lasagabaster, 2020). This would make attitudes a component leading to either high or low motivation.

In educational settings, pupils' attitudes are revealed either in explicit or implicit ways, displaying societal perceptions regarding general beliefs or opinions, particular behavioural patterns, emotional reactions as well as motivations towards learning (Isidro & Lasagabaster, 2020). That is to say that learners' motivation is directly related to learners' attitudes towards the target language, its speakers and the manner in which they approach their learning process (Skehan, 1989; Stern, 1985). Possessing positive attitudes can lead to higher academic performance compared to negative attitudes which might affect students' academic achievement (Duarte, 2019).

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Defined by Heckhausen (1991), motivation is related to goal-oriented behaviour and can be described by particular features such as indicating various feelings, cognitions, behaviours; having desires, aspiration and goals; enjoying activities and being attentive and persistent to the tasks (Masgoret & Gardner, 2003). Hence, motivation and attitudes towards different languages play a crucial role in the ultimate language learning success of pupils (Stern, 1985).

Taking into account the assumption that attitudes affect academic achievement, it can be assumed that success is highly defined by motivation, which is likely connected to the link between achievement and learning experience. The following assumption is supported by various researchers such as Gardner (1985) who claims that "positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language learning" and Brown (2000) who claims that " It seems clear that second language learners benefit from positive attitudes and that negative attitudes may lead to decreased motivation and unsuccessful attainment of proficiency" (p. 181). Furthermore, many researchers state that motivation and attitudes are combined and inseparable (Skehan, 1989). This means that possessing positive attitudes can reinforce pupils' motivation and having a successful learning experience can strengthen their attitudes; on the other hand, motivation can be decreased due to negative attitudes and get reinforced with perceived failing (Zybert, 2018).

The close connection between motivation, attitudes and outcomes of language learning has, in fact, been empirically documented. Several studies conducted by Yagi (1991) and Samimy & Tabuse (1992) investigated students studying Japanese and European languages. The results revealed that pupils in Japanese class were more motivated to learn the language and their attitudes towards it were highly favourable as well. Additionally, Samimy and Tabuse found that pupils' higher motivation was closely interlinked with their higher academic achievements (Sung & Padilla, 1998). The same conclusion was determined by Liu & Zhang (2018), revealing that pupils' attitudes and motivation were directly correlated to their academic performance.

In Tragant & Munoz' (2000) study, the motivation and attitudes of secondary school pupils towards English were evaluated through a longitudinal study. It was found that the indicator of attitudes showed a positive correlation with the amount of time dedicated to the English classes. Moreover, younger pupils turned out to be more positive towards learning English and languages in general in comparison with older students whose anxiety increased over time (Tragant & Muñoz, 2000 in Bernaus, Masgoret, Gardner, & Reyes, 2004).

2.2. Pupils’ attitudes in minority- language regions

Studying attitudes towards regional minority languages is highly important, as language attitudes may become central for successful survival, revitalisation and transmission of the minority languages (Loureiro-Rodriguez, Boggess, & Goldsmith, 2013). In the following, research on language attitudes in different regions with minority languages will be discussed.

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Province of Fryslân

In the province of Fryslân, language attitudes are given an important role. Most of the citizens are aware of the gradual decline of Frisian, pointing to the quality of the language or number of speakers. From their perspective, the decline might be caused by a negative attitude of Frisians or by a "weak language attitude" (Gorter & Ytsma, 1988, p. 1).

A number of studies investigated attitudes towards Frisian. The first study conducted by Pieterson (1974) examined "language engagement" among future teachers in Fryslân (Ytsma, 2006). In the study, age and gender did not lead to important differences in language engagement. However, student's engagement was significantly related to their origin, displaying that participants born in

Fryslân were more engaged with the Frisian language as compared to students born outside of the province (Ytsma, 2006). In 1985 Gorter conducted an intervention-based survey in order to measure language attitudes of the population in Hearrenfean/Heerenveen. Students carried out the fieldwork and received information related to the issue of language variation. Students' attitudes towards Frisian were measured prior to and after the implementation of the educational project. The results showed that the linguistic background of the students was a significant variable influencing participants' attitudes towards Frisian, as more positive attitudes were revealed in Frisian speakers rather than non-Frisian speakers (Gorter, 1985 in Gorter & Ytsma, 1988). Comparable results were reported in the study of the language attitudes among adolescents by De Goede et al. (1994) (Ytsma, 2006). A similar pattern was observed in the studies by Gorter & Jonkman (1995), studies among MDGO students (MDGO: health care education) by Spelberg & Postma (1995) and among primary-school pupils as well by Ytsma (1995). In all these studies, Frisian speakers showed more positive attitudes towards Frisian, and speakers with Dutch as their L1 demonstrated more negative attitudes (Ytsma, 2006). In 2013, the study by Hilton & Gooskens examined language attitudes towards Frisian and Dutch and found similar outcomes to Ytsma (2006) which lead to the conclusion that linguistic background was the most significant variable to predict language attitudes towards Frisian (Hilton & Gooskens, 2013).

A more current study conducted by Duarte (2019) examined the language attitudes of primary school pupils. The research aimed at measuring attitudes towards various languages by Frisian-and Dutch-speaking pupils as well as pupils with an immigrant background. The main patterns of results were related to the type of attended school and the language background of the students. In general, students revealed more positive attitudes towards Dutch and English and less positive towards migrant languages and Frisian. Furthermore, schools with a higher percentage of pupils coming from diverse linguistic backgrounds showed the most favourable attitudes towards all the languages (Duarte, 2019).

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In addition to the studies on language attitudes towards Frisian, there are a number of studies conducted in other minority-language regions investigating pupils' attitudes towards minority and majority languages spoken in those areas.

Wales

Several studies conducted between the 1950s and 1980s examined school pupils' attitudes towards Welsh. The investigations revealed a pattern that decreasing use and less favourable attitudes towards Welsh in pupils started from 11- 12 years old while positive attitudes towards English increased. Moreover, students speaking Welsh at home were more favourable towards Welsh rather than those who do not (Lewis, 1975; Baker, 1988). After analysing these studies, Baker (1992) found one of the influential factors on pupils' language attitudes. He assumed that young students' attitudes were affected by the participatory and active culture in which they engaged in (Laugharne, 2006). Similar findings had already been reached by Sharp, Thomas, Price, Francis, & Davies (1973) who emphasised the importance of pupils' linguistic background linking to a minority language: "Linguistic background is the most highly significant source of variation of attitude towards both languages" (Sharp et al., 1973, p. 155).

Catalonia

Woolard and Gahng (1990) were the first to use the matched-guise technique in order to analyse language attitudes towards Spanish and Catalan in Catalonia at the beginning of the 1980s. They examined secondary school students between 16 and 17 years old. Both the reviews of 1980 and 1987, showed that Catalan had a stronger position than Spanish (Huguet, 2006). In the study conducted by the Vicerectorat de Relacions Institucionals i Polıtica Linguıstica (1988), university students' attitudes depended on the family language variable. The attitudes towards Catalan were more positive when it was the sole L1 rather than amongst Spanish-speaking or bilingual students (Huguet, 2006). In 2001 Huguet and Llurda conducted a similar survey exploring attitudes towards Spanish and Catalan in Aragon and Catalonia. In spite of the fact that the study revealed comparatively positive attitudes towards both of the examined languages, Catalan tended to prevail over Spanish. Therefore, attitudes towards Spanish had a direct correlation with the family linguistic situation; the more the language was spoken in the family, the more positive was the attitude towards it (Huguet, 2006).

The Basque Country

Between the 1990s and the beginning of 2000s, studies related to pupils' attitudes towards Basque and Spanish in the BAC showed that the results mostly depended on certain factors, meaning that students whose study programme was in Basque held more positive attitudes towards the minority language compared to those whose programme was in Spanish. Pupils whose L1 was Basque

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tended to display more positive attitudes towards this language than those whose L1 was Spanish. The effect of the sociolinguistic context also affected the results: students' attitudes were more positive when they were surrounded by a larger percentage of Basque speakers (Lasagabaster, 2006). Based on these results, Madariaga (1994) concluded that the sociolinguistic context exerts a great influence on the students' achievements in Basque. As a consequence, the concept of a bilingual society cannot be achieved simply by school efforts, as endorsing and encouraging the use of Basque in the social setting demands support of all the social institutions (Lasagabaster, 2006).

To conclude, it can be seen that there are different factors forming and developing pupils' attitudes towards minority languages, such as language background, age and the sociolinguistic or educational context. Hence, it is highly important to create and maintain positive attitudes towards a target-language within the whole process of learning and teaching as well as considering a link between language attitudes and educational attainment (Lasagabaster & Huguet, 2006). Furthermore, students' language attitudes towards minority languages might give an indication of its successful intergenerational language transmission and future vitality (Duarte, 2019).

2.3. Parental attitudes

In the past, it was quite common that due to the low status of many minority languages, families tended to discourage them (Appel & Muysken, 2005; Durkacz, 1997). Mostly, parents were concerned that learning a minority language could impact their children's academic performance in the majority language and consequently, their future social mobility and economic opportunities (Brenzinger, 2006). Another reason was that speaking a minority language could be associated with the membership of a lower-class group (Extra & Gorter, 2008; O'Rourke, 2005) and a majority language was identified with middle or upper social class groups (Durkacz, 1997). However, in the past years, there has been increasing value placed on the importance of learning a minority language, mostly due to the following reasons:

1) resurgence and strengthening of the use of minority languages across Europe in accordance with national legislation promoting target languages and placing and considering a minority language as a sign of regional or national identity;

2) the increasing recognition of the social, linguistic and cognitive benefits of learning two or more languages/varieties;

3) the rising numbers of education systems in minority language regions being able to offer education programs through these minority languages as the medium of instruction (Lauchlan, Parisi, & Fadda, 2017).

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Family attitudes and opinions towards languages play a crucial role in the development of their children’s multilingualism (Paradowski & Bator, 2016), due to the emotional connection to the languages formed in a home context. Moreover, they have an impact on the children's language use (Bezcioglu-Goktolga & Yagmur, 2018), as well as on the exploratory process of their attitudes (Giles & Rakić, 2014). Parental attitudes might be considered to be the driver for the maintenance and transmission of a language (Caldas, 2012) and also attitudes (Gaskins & Labbo, 2007; Tannenbaum & Berkovich, 2005).

There have been a number of research studies recognising parents' attitudes towards languages as an important factor influencing children's language attitudes and language learning. For example, a study by Kim (1992) investigated pupils' attitudes towards Korean as a heritage language and found out that parental attitudes were significant contributing factors. Another study by Choy (1993) discovered that parental involvement played a critical role in their children's acquisition of Japanese at elementary school (Sung & Padilla, 1998). When Ytsma (1995) compared Dutch parents' attitudes towards Frisian with the attitudes of their own children, he found that they did not meaningfully deviate from each other. Furthermore, the author assumed that parental attitudes could partly affect their children' attitudes (Ytsma, 1995).

The significance of networking among parents' attitudes and beliefs and their involvement in their children's language learning has also been indicated by Sheldon (2002). Apart from it, it has been shown that a) parent's involvement might be different in accordance with gender indicating that women are more positive (Watzke, 2003); b) parents' language attitudes might be affected by their own knowledge and experience (Bartram, 2006). In a study by Lyon (1996) parental attitudes towards Welsh were examined through questionnaires; parents displayed highly positive attitudes towards Welsh and wanted their children to learn Welsh at school. Another study by Riagáin (2007), lasting for 18 years, investigated adults' attitudes towards Irish in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The findings showed that the differences in attitudes were closely connected to identity, in other words, participants with a stronger identity as Irish possessed more positive attitudes towards the language and wanted their children to learn Irish on the contrast with those who identified themselves as British in Northern Ireland in (Lauchlan et al., 2017).

One of the recent studies by Lauchlan et al. (2017) explored parents and children's attitudes in two minority language regions: Scotland and Sardinia, where participants had to answer questions comparing Gaelic/Sardinian and English/Italian languages. Based on the findings, attitudes towards the minority language were quite positive, although the attitudes in Scotland were slightly stronger compared with Sardinia. Furthermore, bilingual parents and children placed more importance on the knowledge of the minority language than monolingual participants (Lauchlan et al., 2017). It is clear from the studies above that exploration of parents and children's attitudes towards minority languages also depends on whether they identify themselves with the culture from which the language emerges (Lauchlan et al., 2017).

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It can be assumed that parents' positive attitudes towards the minority language might help to promote and trigger a positive effect on the practice of the minority language by their children at home and in a wider social context. Even the parents, who do not speak the target language, can still contribute by encouraging their children to watch programs & movies, read in the minority language or learn the language themselves. However, factors such as language status, cultural capital or socio-economic opportunities might impact their language attitudes and consequently diminish engagement towards the language (Paradowski & Bator, 2016).

2.4. Teachers' attitudes

Educators take a paramount role in the formation of language attitudes. Facing a situation of several languages being in contact, allows learners to realise from early years on that family, society and school make an impact on these languages. Assessing the information and gaining knowledge leads to the formation of their attitudes towards the various languages, their speakers and learning process as well. Hence, with regards to the development of language attitudes, a teacher's role can be crucial in the pupils' future attitudes towards languages (Lasagabaster & Huguet, 2006).

Teacher's beliefs are directly linked to the choices and decisions they make while teaching, which shows the importance of their role in students' motivation (Pajares, 1992). Beliefs can influence teachers' pedagogical practices, and the choice of their teaching strategies depends to which extent they are open to new approaches (Fischl & Sagy, 2005). Furthermore, the teacher's ideologies not only affect the language attitudes of pupils but of their parents as well. As they play an essential role in children's academic development and achievement, teacher's advice and expectations might impact the parents. For example, parents' attitudes towards including the home language into the education system can be affected and changed through teachers' beliefs and language attitudes (Spolsky, 2012a).

There are several studies focusing on teachers' attitudes and beliefs towards multilingualism. In general, their attitudes can be perceived as quite positive towards languages. For example, when the study by Haukås (2016) investigated teachers' beliefs towards English, French or German, all teachers' attitudes were quite positive. Similar findings were reported by Griva and Chostelidou (2012), in which teachers considered multilingualism as an ability to raise pupils' openness towards other cultures and languages and communicate in various linguistic and cultural environments. A study by De Angelis (2011) investigated secondary school teachers from Austria, Great Britain and Italy. They had to complete a questionnaire and reflect on the importance of home language maintenance, class activities with respect to home languages and multilingualism. The results indicated that in general, all teachers considered multilingualism to have advantages, however, they believed that the usage of home languages in class could lead to a delay of learning the

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majority language. Another research by Egaña et al. (2015) explored primary school teachers' beliefs about multilingualism in education. The study took place in the Basque Country and

Fryslân. The teachers in both settings highlighted advantages of multilingualism rather than disadvantages. However, Frisian teachers reacted more negatively towards using the minority language as a medium of instruction while all the Basque teachers were highly positive. Factors such as a deficit of proper materials, appropriate teaching training and lack of experience in teaching through Frisian could have affected teachers' beliefs (Egaña et al., 2015). Additionally, some teachers might be afraid to let students use their home languages as quite often they do not speak pupils' home languages which can lead to their fear of losing control over the class.

The findings of the studies above show similarities in many respects: teachers possess positive beliefs towards multilingualism but in many cases do not make use of pupils' linguistic knowledge in their classes due to some reasons such as time pressure, school curriculum, group size, economics or parents and pupils' expectations (Johnson, 1996). Additionally, some teachers feel insufficiently competent in the languages or show their concern about the possible disruption of further language learning (Haukås, 2016).

2.5. Approaches in multilingual education

Observed in previous studies, language attitudes towards the minority language Frisian are less favourable among pupils which leads to a decline in their motivation and lower academic accomplishments in this language (Oliver & Purdie, 1998; Tragant & Muñoz, 2000). Hence, it was determined that motivation could be boosted by being engaged with a language at various levels (Cummins 2000) instead of learning it isolatedly (Vila, 1993 in Lasagabaster et al., 2006). Consequently, a number of pedagogical approaches (Cenoz & Gorter, 2011, 2015; Gogolin et al.,

2011; Punzenberger, Le Pichon-Vorstman, & Siarova, 2017) with the focus mainly on strengthening the language of instruction across the curriculum in multilingual education were developed in order to tackle new needs in language education and strengthen competencies in the languages. However, in order to make use of pupils' linguistic repertoires and varieties as practical resources for learning, Cummins's (2008) interdependence hypothesis argues that acquired first language knowledge (L1) can be positively transferred to other languages as long as children are exposed to and motivated to learn the language (Vrooman, 2000). The idea of cross-linguistic transfer can also be connected to Cook's (2003) concept of multicompetence, which implies that all the learners' languages construct one shared system (Duarte & Meij, 2018).

Based on this concept, several approaches have been proposed in order to raise pupils' motivation and language attitudes by integrating multiple languages in multilingual education including Language Awareness, Language comparison, Receptive multilingualism, Translanguaging, Contact and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Immersion. All of them form a Holistic Model

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for Multilingualism in Education created by Duarte & Meij (2018), which approaches both the pupils' language-learning requirements and the teachers' needs.

In sum, several approaches including multiple languages in education have been proved to produce positive attitudinal, academic and socio-affective results for students (Cenoz & Gorter, 2011, 2015; Sierens & Van Avermaet, 2014). In this study, we will exclusively focus on the Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches.

2.5.1. Language awareness

The idea of language awareness (LA) was developed by Eric Hawkins (1984) in Great Britain, viewing it as one of the ways to develop pupils' communication and learning skills. The LA approach is based on four dimensions: "(1) the ability to reflect upon and reveal some degree of awareness of individual's own dispositions and motivations regarding languages (socio-affective dimension); (2) the capacity to manage a linguistic and communicative biography in new interaction situations (management of linguistic and communicative repertoires dimension); (3) the ability to manage acquisition processes (management of learning repertoires dimension); and lastly (4) the ability to reflect upon the interactive processes which characterise language contact situations, (management of interaction dimension)" (Andrade et al., 2003, p. 489 in Duarte & Meij, 2018).

Following Hawkins' proposal of the LA approach, many researchers have developed and proposed awareness-raising activities focused on exploring language functions and languages in daily life through the acknowledgement of pupils' linguistic backgrounds as resources for learning. LA is not aimed at teaching one particular language but is intended to promote the development of a new linguistic culture in education systems that can solve some challenges related to multiculturalism and multilingualism (Hélot, 2017). Hence, over the past years, the number of research activities related to language awareness has increased, and many of them have been published in the journal of the Association of Language Awareness. The goals of the journal have been aimed to explore the function of explicit knowledge about language in the process of language teaching, language learning and language use (Jessner, 2017).

Commonly, "traditional" approaches" give learners a passive role, which might lead to the loss of interest and their motivation to learn a language (Anderson, 2008). Also, the approach in which languages are taught isolatedly causes effects upon the students' attitudes towards the studied language (Vila, 1993 in Lasagabaster et al., 2006). Another related point is that quite often teaching materials do not correspond to the learners' needs and might be considered as irrelevant, failing to relate to the pupils' various cultural backgrounds and experience (Anderson, 2011). In order to maximise pupil's engagement, it is important to process learning through cognitively challenging assignments, which lead to the achievement of more profound levels of understanding by the

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production of new knowledge (Cummins, 2000). Setting tasks which prompt learners to explore topics from various cultural perspectives can support the formation of children' linguistic, cultural and personal identities and raise their language and culture awareness. Thus, as it is mentioned by Cummins (2006; p. 60), such tasks can also help to create "identity texts", activities which involve maximum identity exploration and cognitive engagement and which "hold a mirror up to students in which their identities are reflected back in a positive light" (Anderson, 2011). With the usage of language awareness activities in the class, it becomes easier to include languages spoken by the pupils and make minority languages a part of the language ecology of the class (Hélot, 2017). Pointed by Ibarran et al. (2008) language awareness activities should be implied in the Basque curriculum as they can stimulate positive attitudes of students with different linguistic backgrounds. Similar views towards LA as a key component in the success of minority language learning were perceived by trilingual schools in the Italian Dolomites (Verra, 2004) and bilingual schools on the Italian-French border (Darquennes, 2017).

Knowledge of different languages can help students to understand more the role and situation of the minority languages (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017). Hence, it is suggested that the LA approach can aim to bring positive changes in the attitudes towards languages by raising students' awareness about languages around them.

2.5.2. Translanguaging

The concept of translanguaging is used in different educational settings in various parts of the world. Bilingual schools in Wales (Lewis, Jones, & Baker, 2012) were the first to use translanguaging as a pedagogical method, and nowadays it is often related to discursive practices within bilingual and multilingual education (Cenoz, 2017).

Over the past years, a rising awareness of the importance of recognising all languages present in the class instead of focusing on only dominant languages at school has led to the emergence of translanguaging practices all around the world (García & Wei, 2014). Primarily, translanguaging derives from the idea that pupils can transfer their skills from one language to another with a minimum of support (Cenoz, 2017). Described by García & Leiva (2014), translanguaging serves as both a pedagogical approach for teaching multilingual students and an act of bilingual performance, by encouraging them to use their linguistic repertoire and knowledge. Softening the boundaries between languages helps to value and use multilingual speaker's resources (Cenoz, 2017). The idea of isolating the target language from other languages in the pupils' repertoire stems from the audio-lingual and direct methods. In the school context, the ideology of language separation sometimes is associated with one teacher using one language, avoidance of using translation as a learning method or using one classroom for one language (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017).

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The usage of translanguaging in the class allows teachers to welcome pupils' home languages, maximise cognitive and communicative potential development and move from the rigorous separation of languages (Punzenberger et al., 2017). Following Tavares (2015), the strategic implementation of translanguaging in classroom practices can promote metalinguistic awareness and contribute to the development of language and subject learning. In a broad sense, translanguaging includes a variety of terms used for such strategies as cross-linguistic pedagogies to facilitate language awareness and multilingual practices, translation or code-switching (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017).

Several studies examined language use in various educational settings. For example, in the case of Slovene-German schools in Carinthia, Austria, teachers tried to respect pupils' language choice and at the same time to provide support for using the Slovene language by including its use in informal settings like class breaks, as meta-language and during the exchange programme as well (Purkarthofer & Mossakowski, 2011). Another study (Arteagoitia & Howard, 2015) tried to improve students' literacy in the L2 by using their knowledge of the L1. The intervention was integrated through using cognates in Spanish and English by Spanish pupils living in the USA. The findings showed that knowing Spanish cognates helped to enhance reading comprehension and academic vocabulary skills in English (Arteagoitia & Howard, 2015). The Canadian project helped to raise teachers' awareness of their students' bilingual resources and led to an increase of pupils' motivation to learn as well by reading chapters of the same books both in English in French (Lyster, Collins & Ballinger, 2009). Several years later, a new project by Lyster, Quiroga, & Ballinger (2013) aimed to develop morphological awareness in English and French through the pedagogical interventions. As a result, students in the experimental groups significantly outperformed students in the control group by obtaining better scores in the morphological awareness test in French (Lyster et al., 2013). In order to investigate classroom practices, De Jong (2015) used video observations in Dutch bilingual kindergartens. The study did not find a clear effect of translanguaging on the target language of children, but in some particular cases caretakers tended to switch to the home language of children in order to ensure children's emotional stability or safety and make sure that they understood the teacher' instruction (De Jong, 2015; Cenoz & Gorter, 2017). Another study by Duarte (2016) showed how the usage of the translanguaging approach in mainstream education could enhance pupils' knowledge. Students were found to use translanguaging for various functions such as negotiating meaning, paraphrasing the task, showing agreement or disagreement, recasting and correcting information (Duarte, 2016).

Regarding the minority language regions, using translanguaging as a pedagogical intervention in primary schools in the Basque country (Leonet, Cenoz, & Gorter, 2017) has received positive feedback from teachers. The teachers pointed out that translanguaging practices can help to facilitate pupils' metalinguistic awareness and at the same time they highlighted the importance of reinforcing Basque more than Spanish and English due to the lack of using the minority language in pupils' spontaneous communication (Leonet et al., 2017). Another case study investigated

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primary school pupils' attitudes by using rap as a method for a more modern way approach of teaching Irish. The results revealed that the use of transglossic resources helped to enhance more positive ideological views towards Irish (Moriarty, 2017). Furthermore, a research study in Wales reported that the use of the L1 helps to ensure understanding of the class content when the main medium of instruction is the L2 (Lewis, Jones, & Baker, 2013). Apart from this, translanguaging can also be used as a way to enhance comprehension in the context of minority languages. For instance, Lowman, Fitzgerald, Rapira, & Clark (2007) reported that Māori literacy levels strengthened after students were allowed to use their L1, English, to analyse and process texts in the Māori language. Similar findings were reported by Llurda, Cots, & Armengol (2013), in the setting of a Catalan university, unveiled that the use of Catalan and English improved learners' comprehension skills in an English-medium class.

In sum, in the context of minority language areas, translanguaging pedagogies have proven to offer a variety of advantages including promotion and protection of minority languages (Cenoz, 2017), higher lesson performance (Arthur & Martin, 2006), an increase of motivation and confidence (Creese & Blackledge, 2010) and capacity-building and language learning (Latisha & Young, 2017)

2.6. Summary and Research Questions

Within the field of multilingual education and also in regions with minority languages, approaches acknowledging multilingual learners and their diverse linguistic repertoires have started to replace the concept of isolated linguistic practices (Cenoz et Gorter, 2017). Recently, it can be observed that teaching practices are dynamically shifting from monolingual ideologies towards multilingual views and practices due to the growing mobility and diversity of the population (Cenoz & Gorter, 2020). However, in minority language education, there is still a prevailing need to protect and maintain languages, which can lead to a fear of such fluid pedagogical approaches.

Using approaches in which languages are taught separately might affect pupils' attitudes and motivation towards the target language (Vila, 1993 in Lasagabaster et al., 2006). Hence, ideologies used to promote minority languages need to be adjusted to these new challenges (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017). Using new approaches, such as Language Awareness and Translanguaging, allows teachers to include pupils' languages into the class activities and raise their awareness about the languages around them (Sierens & Ramaut, 2018). Knowledge of different languages can enhance students' understanding of the role and situation of the minority languages (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017). Against this backdrop, the present work investigates secondary school pupils' attitudes towards Frisian, Dutch and English in the province of Fryslân. To foster and strengthen positive language attitudes towards minority languages, we investigate whether Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches which entail for the pupils not just learn a language, but also learn

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sociolinguistic aspects of that language. Thus, teachers' and teacher trainers’ views are used as experts' opinions towards implementing Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches as pedagogical practices aiming to enhance pupils' motivation to learn a minority language. We aim to answer the following research questions:

1. What are adolescent pupils' attitudes towards languages in a minority language region? 2. What factors influence pupils’ language attitudes?

3. From the teachers' perspective, to what extent can the implementation of Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches contribute to the enhancement of pupils' motivation to learn minority languages, such as Frisian?

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3. Methodology

3.1 Design

In this study a concurrent mixed-methods design (Creswell, 2013) was employed in order to answer the research questions. Combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches, mixed-methods research allows a researcher to gain more perspectives from different levels or different types of data within the study (Creswell, 2013). Some of the other benefits of using a mixed methods approach are helping to obtain in-depth and thorough understanding of patterns and the relationship between the variables or examining diverse perspectives. In any of these cases, collecting both types of data can help the researcher to provide a more inclusive understanding of the research questions (Greene, Caracelli, & Graham 1989; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998).

Within a mixed-methods approach, a concurrent embedded strategy was employed. The rationale for selecting this approach was that firstly the quantitative data would present a broad overview of the problem introduced by the research questions, that is, by “explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analysed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics)” (Aliaga & Gunderson, 2002, p. 14). Secondly, a qualitative study was developed to “obtain a description that the first method [could not] access” (Morse & Niehaus, 2009, p. 31) and give the possibility of being able to explain unexpected quantitative results (Morse, 1991). Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis were conducted separately, as they aimed to answer different research questions (Heigham, 2009).

The goal of the concurrent mixed-methods was to examine the data through multiple levels: conducting a quantitative questionnaire (Creswell, 2013) among secondary school pupils to investigate their language attitudes towards Frisian, Dutch, English and at the same time, collecting qualitative semi-structured interviews (Galletta & Cross, 2013) with teachers and teacher trainers to gain insight of their views and beliefs towards the Language Awareness and Translanguaging approaches in the province of Fryslân. This type of interview was designed to be both formal and adaptable, addressing all the important dimensions of the research but at the same time leaving the researcher some space for flexibility and open questions (Galletta & Cross, 2013). Hence, using this type of interview allows a more natural development of the conversation instead of merely answering the questions (Heigham, 2009).

3.2 Procedures

3.2.1. Language questionnaire

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To address the first research question, a questionnaire was used to measure and analyse patterns in students’ attitudes towards languages and investigate factors affecting them. The data was collected between February and March 2020 in the scope of a larger project in the Province of

Fryslân which aimed to raise and increase students’ language awareness through conducting activities related to the Linguistic Landscapes (Helmchen, LoCALL, 2019). The pupils’ questionnaire was administered through an online Google Form during the Frisian classes in the presence of the researcher and the teacher. All the participants were informed beforehand that there were no right and wrong responses and that the provided information would remain confidential and would be treated anonymous. If the students had any questions, they could ask both the teacher and the researcher to clarify all parts of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered in Dutch, the main language of instruction of the pupils.

In total, the questionnaire consisted of 71 questions (yes/no-questions, multiple choice questions and 5-point Likert scales; see Figures 1, 2 and 3 for examples), and afterwards all the items were divided into 4 thematic sections (see Appendix I for the Dutch and English versions). The questions were piloted, adjusted and simplified for pupils aged 11 to 13 years old.

Figure 1. Example of an attitude statement with a Likert scale from the questionnaire: When I

speak Frisian, I feel ashamed; a scale from “never”- to “very often”.

Figure 2. Example of open question from the questionnaire: What is the highest degree obtained

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Figure 3. Example of multiple-choice question from the questionnaire: Which language do you

prefer to speak in the following settings?

Description of sections

Section 1 – Background information

The first part of the questionnaire examined pupils’ demographic information: school, grade, age, gender, place of birth and residence. The aim of this section is to collect the background variables for this study (Kerkhoff, Hout, & Vallen, 1988).

Section 2 – Language proficiency

Next, several parts of the questionnaire were related to the pupils' mother-tongue, spoken languages, language proficiency in Frisian, Dutch, English and other languages, added by the participants as well. The self-evaluation measurement examined pupils’ perceptions of the language abilities based on 4 skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The pupils were required to assess themselves on a scale from 1 to 5 varying from having no skills at all to a very good level (Gorter, Jelsma, Van Der Plank, & De Vos, 1984).

Section 3 – Language use

This section examined students’ language use in talking to parents, friends, siblings. Additionally, the students had to reflect on which languages they used when they were angry, excited, dreaming, counting, thinking (Kerkhoff et al., 1988). Afterwards, pupils completed the questions about language choice at home. The students were asked to rate how often their parents use Frisian, Dutch and English at home and in which language they communicate with their parents.

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Section 4- Language attitudes

Statements such as “If I speak Frisian, I feel ashamed”, or “I think later I can have more opportunities finding a job if I speak Frisian” were used to measure pupils’ attitudes towards Frisian. Additionally, in order to measure language attitudes towards major languages like Dutch, English, minority languages such as Frisian and other students’ home languages there were questions asking about how cool the pupil thinks each language is. Language preference questions required pupils to rate how nice each language is and how cool it is to speak that language. Each question contained 6 possible answers ranging from “totally not” to “very nice” and the sixth option was aimed for the cases when the answer was not applicable. Afterwards, the students were asked to answer questions related to the language importance within various fields such as work, sports, social media, school etc. The students had 6 options to choose varying from “not important at all” to “very important” and the last option was left for the cases where the question could not apply. The questions related to the language attitudes were adapted from the already existing questionnaire (Dekker, 2019). However, some modifications were applied for the current case study. The overview of the questionnaire can be found below in Table 1.

Table 1. Overview of the questionnaire.

Section Questions Type of answers Variable

used for analysis

Socio-demographic background

1. How old are you? 2. Which school are you at? 3. What level do you do? 4. Which grade?

5. Are you a boy or a girl?

6. Where were you born (which country)? 7. If you were born in another country, at what

age have you moved to the Netherlands? 8. Do you use two or more languages in your

daily life?

9. What is the highest education degree of your parents?

10. What languages do you speak?

11. What is your mother-tongue?

Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Gender Language background

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Language knowledge

12-16. Where did you learn Dutch/Frisian/dialect/English/another

language?

17-21. How old were you when you learned Dutch/Frisian/dialect/English/another

language?

22-29. Grade your knowledge (Speaking, Writing, Reading, Listening) in Dutch/Frisian/dialect/English/another language

5-point Likert scale Open

5-point Likert scale

Language proficiency

Language use

30. Which language do you prefer to use: at school?

31. Which language do you prefer to use with friends?

32. Which language do you prefer to use with parents/caregivers?

33. Which language do you prefer to use with brothers/sisters?

34. Which language do you prefer to use on social media (Facebook, Instagram)?

35. Which language do you prefer to talk to babies/children or pets?

36. In which language do you count? 37. In which language do you get angry? 38. In which language do you think? 39. In which language do you dream?

40. In which language do you express yourself the easiest?

41. In which language do you get sad?

42. How often do you use the following languages (Dutch, Dialect, Frisian, another language) on social media (for example Instagram, WhatsApp)?

43. How often do you use the following languages (Dutch, Dialect, Frisian, another language) to read a book or magazine?

44. How often do you use the following languages (Dutch, Dialect, Frisian, another language) to play online/offline computer games? 45. How often do you use the following languages (Dutch, Dialect, Frisian, another language) at the supermarket?

46. How often do you hear your parents speaking the following languages?

47. If You use one of these languages, do your parents respond in the same language?

5-point Likert scale Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Multiple choice Language use

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(Dutch/Frisian/English/Dialect/another language)

48. In what language do you speak to your grandparents? (Dutch/Frisian/English/Dialect/another language) Multiple choice Language use Language attitudes

49. If I speak Frisian, I feel ashamed (never – very often)

50. I have many friends who speak Frisian 51. Sometimes I am bullied with the fact that I speak Frisian

52. I think later I can have more opportunities finding a job if I speak Frisian.

53. I think I am as good at Dutch as other students, who do not speak Frisian.

54. How much do you enjoy speaking these languages?

(Dutch/Frisian/English/Dialect/another language)

55-59. How nice does

Frisian/Dutch/English/dialect/another language sound to you?

60-63. How much do you enjoy speaking Frisian/Dutch/English/dialect/another language?

64-67. How important are

Frisian/Dutch/English/dialect/another language to you?

68-71. How important do you think Dutch/Frisian/dialect/English/another language is for school, work, social activities, hobby/sport; social media?

5-point Likert scale 5-point Likert scale 5-point Likert scale 5-point Likert scale 5-point Likert scale

5-point Likert scale

Language attitudes

Eight items were selected to construct an individual language-attitude score towards Frisian, Dutch and English by calculating the mean of all the chosen item scores towards each language. The participants could respond to the items by rating statements on a five-point Likert-scale, thus rating their attitudes to each item. Each scale-position was given a numerical value: values of one to five, respectively reflecting a negative attitude to highly positive. Furthermore, an analysis of item reliability was determined through the reliability coefficient test. Table 2 indicates the reliability of the chosen questionnaire items in terms of the three aspects of language attitudes separately. The value of Cronbach's Alpha regarding the attitudes towards Dutch is .759, the attitudes towards Frisian obtained .941, and the Cronbach’s Alpha value of the attitudes towards English is .829. The acceptable values of Cronbach Alpha for each item were >.70 which is considered to be an acceptable consistency of reliability. One participant was excluded from the data analysis due to

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providing inaccurate answers. No assumptions were violated, and standard errors were normally distributed.

Table 2. Cronbach's Alpha of the language attitudes.

Language attitudes Cronbach's Alpha

Towards Dutch .759

Towards Frisian .941

Towards English .829

Additionally, four items (Speaking, Listening, Writing, Reading) were selected to construct an individual language proficiency score Frisian, Dutch and English by calculating the mean of all the chosen items scores for each language. The respondents could respond to the items by giving their position on a five-point Likert-scale, thus indicating their proficiency to each item. Each scale-position was given a numerical value: values of one to five, respectively reflecting a low proficiency to high. Afterwards, the reliability test was conducted for each single item. The value of Cronbach's Alpha (see Table 3) regarding the proficiency in Dutch is .894, the proficiency in Frisian obtained .875, and the Cronbach’s Alpha value of the proficiency in English is .813. The acceptable values of Cronbach Alpha for each item were >.70 which is considered to be an acceptable consistency of reliability.

Table 3. Cronbach's Alpha of the language proficiency.

Language proficiency Cronbach's Alpha

Dutch .894

Frisian .875

English .813

Frisian - “seducing” or “pushing down the throat”? Language attitudes of adolescent pupils and experts’ views