Language choice and identity: An investigation based on the comparison of language attitudes from two different localities

Abstract

This current research tries to compare and contrast the language attitudes of Arabic-Turkish bilinguals from Mersin and Hatay cities located in the East Mediterranean Region of Anatolia. The quantitative results of the language attitude surveys conducted in the two cities by two different researchers (Çetintaş Yıldırım, 2019; Kocaoğlu, 2019) are compared, and qualitative conclusions which can be generalized to the population of Arabic-Turkish bilinguals are obtained. Two different but related themes (language choices and the sense of belonging to a social/cultural identity of the two participant groups) consist of the main focus. Four sets of questions for the identity theme and seven sets of questions for the language choice theme were determined from the surveys and the means of each group for every question were compared and interpreted. The comparison reveals that Arabic-Turkish bilinguals from Hatay interiorize Arabic language more than Arabic-Turkish bilinguals from Mersin. The first group is more inclined to use Arabic in their professional career and transfer it to the new generations.

Keywords

• language choice; social/cultural identity; language attitudes; Arabic-Turkish bilingualism

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