228 Gitte Kristiansen
In order to address these questions the two experiments described in this
chapter were conducted in spring 2007. Adopting a usage-based approach
to linguistic stereotype formation we predicted that structure would be de-
termined by use and that purely formal characteristics (such as phonetic
salience and contrast) would have fewer effects on correct identification
than relative social salience (such as social stereotyping).
- Experiment 1: Identification of L1 accents
This experiment aimed at assessing the degree of correct identification of
regional varieties in peninsular Spain by young native children across dif-
ferent age groups. As identification can take place at various levels within a
taxonomic hierarchy of linguistic varieties, ranging from large-scale cate-
gorizations such as northern or southern speech, medium-scale categories
such as Catalan or Andalusian and at a scale of increasingly more specific
levels of abstraction, we were interested in eliciting not only the degree but
also the level of specificity of the (correct or incorrect) identification on the
part of the children. A suitable design to capture both dimensions thus had
to be set up.
2.1. Method
Varieties from four regional Spanish dialects were assessed in the experi-
ment: Galicia, Madrid, Andalucía and Gran Canarias. For each type two
tokens were represented so as to test systematically for type-token relation-
ships. Except for Galicia the tokens were from identical dialect areas: two
speakers from Santa Cruz de Tenerife represented Canarias, two speakers
from Seville represented Andalucía and two speakers from metropolitan
Madrid represented the community of Madrid (the default case in the con-
temporary sociolinguistic situation in Spain). In the case of Galicia, one
speaker was from the province of Lugo and the other from the province of
Pontevedra. The stimuli consisted of digital recordings of a text read by
speakers born and raised in the area in question. Speakers suspecting that
the purpose of the recording was to retrieve a sample of their accent were
discarded. The eight speakers selected, aged between 23 and 42, had all
been born and raised in the respective provinces and spoke with the corres-
ponding local accent.