Prince Edward Island – a blank spot on the (socio)linguistic map
Attempting to fill a gap on the (socio)linguistic map, this paper offers a first survey of attitudes and perceptions of and towards Prince Edward Islanders and their variety of English. Results from 70 PEI participants, stratified by age and gender, are discussed. The survey includes a map task, sections on local vocabulary and sayings, a verbal guise test with language attitudes ratings, and an “island identity” section incorporating aspects of multidimensional acculturation scales.
The focus in this talk is the map task, where each participant on average mentioned three different regions on PEI. Associations for these regions (and their speakers) can be grouped into five major categories: attitudes, regions & places, evaluations, other varieties & languages, and people. While generally resembling map task results of other varieties, the data hold some surprises: most strikingly, young women (rather than young men) show overall more positive attitudes towards local language.
