No abstract

Contrary to linguistic evidence, people still believe that some languages are more "precise," "beautiful," and "expressive" than other languages and that some dialects are "inferior," "inexpressive," and "incomplete" compared with their corresponding Standard or official languages.Many studies have been carried out and several techniques have been employed in order to examine peoples' attitudes toward languages and varieties of languages. Some of the most common techniques include using surveys and questionnaires, carrying out Interviews, recording natural conversations, and employing experimental manipulations.In the present study an experimental attempt was made to investigate Greek Cypriots' attitudes toward their native language, the Cypriot dialect, by employing the matched-guise technique. Twenty-two first-year Greek Cypriot students attending the University of Cyprus were selected to serve äs subjects (judges) and to evaluate the qualities of several Speakers using the Cypriot dialect on one occasion (one guise) and Standard Modern Greek (SMG) on another occasion (the other guise). Judges' evaluations took the form of filling in a table that included 12 traits such äs kindness, intelligence, sincerity, dependability, and sense of humor. The results obtained show that the SMG guises were rated more favorably than the Cypriot guises. Superiority and inferiority of languagesIt is generally known that linguists believe that all languages and all varieties of a particular language are "equal" and that a given language or variety is not inherently better than any other. Also, linguists contend that when judgments are made about languages or varieties, such äs

The Greek Cypriot community living in the UK is one of the largest and most tightly-knit communities in the Greek diaspora. The present study attempts to investigate several linguistic and sociolinguistic issues concerning this community. Questionnaires were completed by 274 Cypriot students between the ages of 12 and 18 attending Greek classes in the Greater London area, eliciting information about their family and ethnic background, language abilities, domains of use for each language, reasons for studying Greek, ethnic identity, perceived differences from Cypriots living in Cyprus, and reasons for wanting to return to the homeland. It is hoped that the results will lead to a better understanding not only of the UK Cypriot community but also of such important linguistic issues as language maintenance, language attitudes, and the role of language in the formation of cultural identity.

The issue of mother‐tongue education has preoccupied linguists and educationalists for many years. Some bring forward arguments in support of the use of dialects or non‐standard languages whereas others question their suitability as mediums of instruction. In multidialectal settings, choosing a language for instruction is never an easy matter because many factors need to be considered. In this article an effort is made to examine the situation in Cyprus, where the language of instruction is Standard Modern Greek (SMG) whereas the mother tongue of the students is the Greek Cypriot Dialect (GCD). On the basis of the results obtained from an attitudinal survey of teachers, the practice of using SMG officially and GDC unofficially is examined and assessed. An attempt is made to explore the feasibility of introducing GCD alongside SMG in the educational system of Cyprus.

This paper examines various issues related to the current sociolinguistic situation in Cyprus. Cyprus presents, in some ways, a unique situation since language seems to have acquired a central and almost exclusive role in defining the identity of Greek Cypriots. To better understand the current sociolinguistic situation in Cyprus and to comprehend the interplay between language and identity, the linguistic practices of Cypriots described in various studies will be presented and discussed. These studies cover such interrelated issues as: (1) the diglossic situation in Cyprus; (2) language and identity; (3) attitudes towards the dialect; (4) language attitudes and how these can influence language use and language policy; and (5) attitudinal and motivational factors affecting lexical borrowing.