Abstract

There are many factors that influence language acquisition and use, particularly in multilingual environments. The ethnic group affiliation (EGA) of speakers, or the degree to which a speaker identifies with their native language or culture, has been shown to have a significant impact on language use (Gatbonton, Trofimovich & Segalowitz 2009, Zabrodskaja 2015). EGA can also impact the judgments of and attitudes toward these speakers by others (e.g., Trofimovich & Turuševa 2020). Lithuania is a multilingual state with a complex political and linguistic history, particularly in relation to the Russian language and people. In this study, 150 native Lithuanians and 38 ethnic Russians completed an EGA survey. Next, the Russians provided a speech sample in Lithuanian. The native Lithuanians listened to Lithuanian speech samples by both ethnic Lithuanians and ethnic Russians in order to understand the impact of EGA (both of the speaker and listener) on the listener’s judgment of native Russian speakers’ accentedness in Lithuanian as well as the listener’s attitudes toward Russian-Lithuanian bilinguals in Lithuania. There was no relationship between native Russian speakers’ EGA and the judgments of native Lithuanian toward those Russian speakers’ Lithuanian. However, Russian speakers’ level of identification toward identity labels “Russian” and “emigrant” were correlated with native Lithuanians’ comfort in speaking with them in a variety of tasks. The EGA of the Lithuanian listeners significantly affected their level of comfort in interacting with Russian speakers. It is suggested that speaker EGA may not influence judgments of non-native Lithuanian speakers, but listener EGA may.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; Linguistics

Rights

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