ABSTRACT
Most previous work on language attitudes has focused on native speakers, while studies that examine the attitudes of language learners are less common. In addition, research exploring attitudes towards codeswitching is scarce. This study examines the language attitudes of Puerto Rican L2-English learners towards Spanish-English codeswitching and compares them to those of Puerto Rican bilinguals from a previous study (Guzzardo Tamargo et al., 2018). Twenty-nine participants completed a matched-guise test, in which they listened to monolingual (Spanish and English) and codeswitched (Spanish with English lexical insertions, intersentential switching, and intrasentential switching) guises, and judged them on attributes pertaining to personality, socio-economic status, and ethnicity/identity. Learners share more similarities than differences with bilinguals. Both groups display positive attitudes associating codeswitching with bilingualism and with diverse socio-economic and geographical backgrounds. Learners present sensitivity towards different codeswitching types, but not as much as bilinguals. Unlike bilinguals, learners do not exhibit solidarity towards codeswitching. However, both groups present similar acceptance of codeswitching as a marker of Puerto Rican identity.
