Linguistic Identity and Attitudes in Spanish-speaking Latin America, 2013

The LIAS-project (Linguistic Identity and Attitudes in Spanish-speaking Latin America) aims to study attitudes towards Latin-American Spanish and how they form the linguistic identity of its speakers. Linguistic attitudes result from a complex interplay of social forces and express how language serves individual and collective interests. Norwegians are aware of the imporance of linguistic identity, and national debate often leads to new policies for language use. This has not been the case with Latin-American Spanish. An Euro-centered norm has been followed and legitimated in the governmental apparatus, especially in education, but there are signs of change. This comparative project will study how Latin Americans identify with their linguistic variant, their loyalty to it, and the social prejudice, acceptability or stigma associated with it. This research-based knowledge is essencial for policy makers, business, industry, NGOs, translators, teachers, scholars and students in any communication exchange with Latin America. The LIAS-project is the first study of attitudes towards Latin-American Spanish following the same methodology and including all the Spanish-speaking region, Madrid and Miami. The results of a pre-project (NFR-190213/S50) assure the feasibility of this large scale project and the committment and professional knowledge of highly qualified researchers to carry out the large data-gathering work and subsequent analysis. The pre-project has found a great interest for linguistic attitudes judged by the amount of local studies carried out with different methodologies and small samples. The LIAS-project aims to work with a global perspective and common methodology. Its findings will be presented locally and internationally, in scholarly articles,in a book and on a website. Master and PhD students in Norway, Latin America and elsewhere will be able to use the project data in their work for many years to come.

LIAS项目（西班牙语拉丁美洲语言身份与态度研究项目，Linguistic Identity and Attitudes in Spanish-speaking Latin America）旨在探究社会大众对拉美西班牙语（Latin-American Spanish）的态度，以及此类态度如何塑造语言使用者的语言身份认同。语言态度源于社会力量的复杂互动，体现了语言如何服务于个体与集体的利益诉求。挪威民众已意识到语言身份认同的重要性，国内相关议题的辩论往往会催生新的语言使用政策。而拉美西班牙语领域尚未出现此类情形。政府机构（尤其是教育领域）长期遵循并合法化了以欧洲为中心的语言规范，但如今已有变革的迹象。本对比研究项目将探究拉美民众对自身语言变体的身份认同、语言忠诚度，以及与之相关的社会偏见、接受度与污名化现象。此类基于研究形成的认知，可为所有与拉美开展交流往来的政策制定者、工商界人士、行业从业者、非政府组织（NGOs）、译者、教师、学者及学生提供重要参考。本LIAS项目是首个采用统一研究方法、覆盖所有西班牙语使用地区（含马德里与迈阿密）的拉美西班牙语态度研究。预研究项目（编号NFR-190213/S50）的成果证实了本大型项目的可行性，也验证了高素质研究团队开展大规模数据收集与后续分析工作的责任心与专业能力。从预研究中采用不同方法、针对小样本开展的多项地方性研究成果来看，社会各界对语言态度议题表现出了极高的关注度。LIAS项目秉持全球视野，采用统一的研究方法开展工作。项目成果将以学术论文、专著及官方网站等形式，在本地与国际范围内进行发布。未来多年内，挪威、拉美及其他地区的硕士与博士研究生均可将本项目数据集用于自身研究工作。