ABSTRACT
The terms ‘language attitudes’ and ‘language ideologies’ are often used interchangeably; while both refer to the ideas individuals have about language and languages, the terms have evolved within different disciplines and thus have different histories and research traditions. The concept of language attitudes as noted has emerged from the field of social psychology. The field of language attitude research is vast with a wide range of foci including but not limited to: language variation, language dialects, language learning, minority languages, language groups and communities, language preferences, language use. The concept is increasingly being used to document and understand the beliefs of individuals towards languages or varieties in multilingual situations particularly in relation to the politics of language where local, national, and international languages and models are often in competition. Education and social opportunities may also impact the ability of women to learn and use the high status language of a society, however.
