Remarkable LIKE in the non-native repertoire: Usage, judgments, attitudes
The current paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which remarkable LIKE (D’Arcy, 2017), exists in non-native sociolinguistic repertoire.
Using multiple data collection methods, the present study examined rLIKE as perceived, used and reflected upon by 26 international undergraduates on a university campus; data from local native speakers were used for comparison.
Token distribution across functions and across syntactic positions within functions was strikingly similar for NSs and NNSs. In addition to length of residence, beliefs about LIKE emerged as a factor influencing usage frequency: NNSs who perceived LIKE as specifically American were likely to use it often. Results of a naturalness judgment experiment also revealed a native-like pattern.
Interestingly, most NNSs did not recognize LIKE as a stigmatized vernacular element. The attitude pattern (judgments about speakers using/not using LIKE) displayed by NNSs, however, was based on perceived social personae of speakers and surprisingly native-like.
