Robert M Mckenzie
Biographic Data
| ID | 209022 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Robert M Mckenzie |
| GIVEN NAMES | Robert M |
| FAMILY NAME | Mckenzie |
| SIGNATURE | MCKENZIE R M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northumbria University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7212-6724 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 113 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1927 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Implicit and Explicit Language Attitudes and Language Attitude Change
Knowledge of public attitudes towards language‐based diversity can help uncover wider societal prejudices. Nonetheless, sociolinguists are increasingly aware of the limitations of using traditional explicit self‐report measures to gauge attitudes towards linguistic variation. Accordingly, a growing number of studies have adapted more recently developed socio‐psychological techniques—most particularly the implicit association test (IAT)—to access …
National identity and the ownership of English in Nigeria
It has been argued that, especially in non‐Inner Circles of English, whether or not speakers consider language to be a harbinger of national identity affects their positioning as owners of that language. A plethora of prior studies have also demonstrated that language is of central importance regarding the ways in which people enact their national identities. In the case of Nigeria, national language(s) rhetoric has been particularly contentious.…
Implicit and explicit linguistic biases
The narrative of human suffering
Narratives about death and loss require sensitivity and handling with care. However, the influence of the specific language employed within such narratives is not well understood. To help address this gap, this article details the findings of two complementary studies. Study 1 examined the ways in which the 2014 Malaysian Airline MH370 air tragedy is linguistically defined and constructed in a number of newspapers in Malaysia and the UK. Study 2 …
Identity and dialect performance
This interesting volume is a welcome addition to the increasing body of research investigating the relationship between individual and group identity construction and dialect use. The collection is in four parts, and comprises nineteen chapters examining dialect performance in a wide range of contexts. Reem Bassiouney’s useful introduction covers the groundwork for the scope of the work, and includes a detailed discussion of the term ‘dialect’, a…
Socio-psychological salience and categorisation accuracy of speaker place of origin
There exists a dearth of research investigating how listeners use their knowledge of variation in their L2 to categorise speaker provenance from stimulus speech. The present study, employing a free classification measure, examined 191 Thai university students' categorisations of the geographical origin of nine speakers of English. Analysis demonstrated participants were generally able to distinguish between native and non-native English speech mo…
American or British? L2 speakers’ recognition and evaluations of accent features in English
Recent language attitude research has attended to the processes involved in identifying and evaluating spoken language varieties. This article investigates the ability of second-language learners of English in Spain (N = 71) to identify Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GenAm) speech and their perceptions of linguistic variation between these speech varieties. Data were gathered using a verbal-guise experiment in which respondents…
Implicit–explicit attitudinal discrepancy and the investigation of language attitude change in progress
Socio-psychological research has frequently reported low correlations between explicit and implicit attitude measures for a range of socially sensitive topics. There is mounting evidence that implicit and explicit evaluations do not change at the same rate and thus any implicit–explicit attitudinal discrepancy (IED) may indicate attitude change in progress. However, researchers have yet to investigate whether differences between implicit and expl…
The competence and warmth of Thai students’ attitudes towards varieties of English
Previous language attitude research indicates that presenting speech forms allows listeners to index information about and attach social meaning to the perceived group(s) of speakers. Despite the volume of research undertaken elsewhere in Asia, there appear to be no in-depth studies investigating Thai nationals’ evaluations of specific varieties of English speech. This large-scale study examines 204 Thai university students’ attitudes towards for…
The sociolinguistics of variety identification and categorisation
In addition to the examination of non-linguists’ evaluations of different speech varieties, in recent years sociolinguists and sociophoneticians have afforded greater attention towards the ways in which naïve listeners perceive, process, and encode spoken language variation, including the identification of language varieties as regionally or socially localised forms. The present study attempts to extend understanding of non-linguists’ perceptions…
The people who are out of ‘right’ E nglish”
Previous research indicates that evaluations of speech forms reflect stereotypes of, and attitudes towards, the perceived group(s) of speakers of the language/variety under consideration. This study, employing both implicit and explicit attitude measures, investigates 158 J apanese university students' perceptions of forms of UK , US , J apanese, C hinese, Thai and I ndian E nglish speech. The results show a general convergence between students' …
UK university students’ folk perceptions of spoken variation in English
Non-linguists’ attitudes towards language diversity are important since they reflect preferences and levels of prestige associated with particular speech communities. However, few studies measuring native-speaker attitudes towards both L1 and L2 English have been conducted, including amongst UK-born students. This is surprising in light of recent internationalisation policies adopted by many UK universities and the resultant increase in overseas …
That which We Call a Rose by any Other Name Would Sound as Sweet
Folk perceptions of language diversity often differ from the criteria laid out by linguists and have particular implications for applied/sociolinguists since the collective identification of language diversity largely determines the ways in which individuals regard the categorisation of their own (and others) linguistic uses as belonging to a specific social and/or regional variety. Folk perceptions can thus help define speech communities as well…
The Social Psychology of English as a Global Language
Social factors and non‐native attitudes towards varieties of spoken English
This paper, through the employment of a verbal‐guise study and techniques incorporated from perceptual dialectology, investigated the attitudes of 558 Japanese university students towards six varieties of English speech. Although the results suggest a particularly favourable attitude towards standard and non‐standard varieties of UK and US English in terms of ‘status’, informants expressed greater ‘solidarity’ with a Japanese speaker of heavily‐a…
The Role of Variety Recognition in Japanese University Students’ Attitudes Towards English Speech Varieties
Language attitude studies have tended to assume that informants who listen to and evaluate speech stimuli are able to identify with consistent accuracy the varieties of English in question. However, misidentification could reduce the validity of any results obtained, particularly when it involves the evaluations of non-native English-speaking informants, who are likely to have had less exposure to varieties of English speech. The present study in…
The complex and rapidly changing sociolinguistic position of the English language in Japan
This paper investigates the role of English in Japan, outlining its current status and use. The paper begins with a critical review of the World Englishes model as it relates to the categorization of Japan within the expanding circle of English use and continues with a brief history of English language contact with the country. It then examines the changing role of English in the Japanese education system and media. This is followed by a discussi…
Palatal λ in Greek Dialects
To the instances of non-syllabic ε after -ιλ- or -υλ- which were given in Class. Quart. XVII. 196 (cf. Schwyzer, Exempla 251B 17, note), two more may be added: (1) Σιλεωνίας, Kaibel, Epigrammata Graeca 783 (Cnidos), occurs in a trochaic line, and is scanned Cup – Cup –. Kaibel calls it a ‘nomen suspectum’; but in the re-edition in Anc. Gr.Inscr.in the British Museum , No. 796, the reading is defended by a comparison with Σιλώνιος in C.I.G. 1577. …
Social factors and non‐native attitudes towards varieties of spoken English
This paper, through the employment of a verbal‐guise study and techniques incorporated from perceptual dialectology, investigated the attitudes of 558 Japanese university students towards six varieties of English speech. Although the results suggest a particularly favourable attitude towards standard and non‐standard varieties of UK and US English in terms of ‘status’, informants expressed greater ‘solidarity’ with a Japanese speaker of heavily‐a…
The Role of Variety Recognition in Japanese University Students’ Attitudes Towards English Speech Varieties
Language attitude studies have tended to assume that informants who listen to and evaluate speech stimuli are able to identify with consistent accuracy the varieties of English in question. However, misidentification could reduce the validity of any results obtained, particularly when it involves the evaluations of non-native English-speaking informants, who are likely to have had less exposure to varieties of English speech. The present study in…
Implicit–explicit attitudinal discrepancy and the investigation of language attitude change in progress
Socio-psychological research has frequently reported low correlations between explicit and implicit attitude measures for a range of socially sensitive topics. There is mounting evidence that implicit and explicit evaluations do not change at the same rate and thus any implicit–explicit attitudinal discrepancy (IED) may indicate attitude change in progress. However, researchers have yet to investigate whether differences between implicit and expl…
The people who are out of ‘right’ E nglish”
Previous research indicates that evaluations of speech forms reflect stereotypes of, and attitudes towards, the perceived group(s) of speakers of the language/variety under consideration. This study, employing both implicit and explicit attitude measures, investigates 158 J apanese university students' perceptions of forms of UK , US , J apanese, C hinese, Thai and I ndian E nglish speech. The results show a general convergence between students' …
The competence and warmth of Thai students’ attitudes towards varieties of English
Previous language attitude research indicates that presenting speech forms allows listeners to index information about and attach social meaning to the perceived group(s) of speakers. Despite the volume of research undertaken elsewhere in Asia, there appear to be no in-depth studies investigating Thai nationals’ evaluations of specific varieties of English speech. This large-scale study examines 204 Thai university students’ attitudes towards for…
American or British? L2 speakers’ recognition and evaluations of accent features in English
Recent language attitude research has attended to the processes involved in identifying and evaluating spoken language varieties. This article investigates the ability of second-language learners of English in Spain (N = 71) to identify Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GenAm) speech and their perceptions of linguistic variation between these speech varieties. Data were gathered using a verbal-guise experiment in which respondents…
UK university students’ folk perceptions of spoken variation in English
Non-linguists’ attitudes towards language diversity are important since they reflect preferences and levels of prestige associated with particular speech communities. However, few studies measuring native-speaker attitudes towards both L1 and L2 English have been conducted, including amongst UK-born students. This is surprising in light of recent internationalisation policies adopted by many UK universities and the resultant increase in overseas …
Socio-psychological salience and categorisation accuracy of speaker place of origin
There exists a dearth of research investigating how listeners use their knowledge of variation in their L2 to categorise speaker provenance from stimulus speech. The present study, employing a free classification measure, examined 191 Thai university students' categorisations of the geographical origin of nine speakers of English. Analysis demonstrated participants were generally able to distinguish between native and non-native English speech mo…
The complex and rapidly changing sociolinguistic position of the English language in Japan
This paper investigates the role of English in Japan, outlining its current status and use. The paper begins with a critical review of the World Englishes model as it relates to the categorization of Japan within the expanding circle of English use and continues with a brief history of English language contact with the country. It then examines the changing role of English in the Japanese education system and media. This is followed by a discussi…
National identity and the ownership of English in Nigeria
It has been argued that, especially in non‐Inner Circles of English, whether or not speakers consider language to be a harbinger of national identity affects their positioning as owners of that language. A plethora of prior studies have also demonstrated that language is of central importance regarding the ways in which people enact their national identities. In the case of Nigeria, national language(s) rhetoric has been particularly contentious.…
Palatal λ in Greek Dialects
To the instances of non-syllabic ε after -ιλ- or -υλ- which were given in Class. Quart. XVII. 196 (cf. Schwyzer, Exempla 251B 17, note), two more may be added: (1) Σιλεωνίας, Kaibel, Epigrammata Graeca 783 (Cnidos), occurs in a trochaic line, and is scanned Cup – Cup –. Kaibel calls it a ‘nomen suspectum’; but in the re-edition in Anc. Gr.Inscr.in the British Museum , No. 796, the reading is defended by a comparison with Σιλώνιος in C.I.G. 1577. …
Social factors and non‐native attitudes towards varieties of spoken English
This paper, through the employment of a verbal‐guise study and techniques incorporated from perceptual dialectology, investigated the attitudes of 558 Japanese university students towards six varieties of English speech. Although the results suggest a particularly favourable attitude towards standard and non‐standard varieties of UK and US English in terms of ‘status’, informants expressed greater ‘solidarity’ with a Japanese speaker of heavily‐a…
The Role of Variety Recognition in Japanese University Students’ Attitudes Towards English Speech Varieties
Language attitude studies have tended to assume that informants who listen to and evaluate speech stimuli are able to identify with consistent accuracy the varieties of English in question. However, misidentification could reduce the validity of any results obtained, particularly when it involves the evaluations of non-native English-speaking informants, who are likely to have had less exposure to varieties of English speech. The present study in…
The complex and rapidly changing sociolinguistic position of the English language in Japan
This paper investigates the role of English in Japan, outlining its current status and use. The paper begins with a critical review of the World Englishes model as it relates to the categorization of Japan within the expanding circle of English use and continues with a brief history of English language contact with the country. It then examines the changing role of English in the Japanese education system and media. This is followed by a discussi…
The Social Psychology of English as a Global Language
That which We Call a Rose by any Other Name Would Sound as Sweet
Folk perceptions of language diversity often differ from the criteria laid out by linguists and have particular implications for applied/sociolinguists since the collective identification of language diversity largely determines the ways in which individuals regard the categorisation of their own (and others) linguistic uses as belonging to a specific social and/or regional variety. Folk perceptions can thus help define speech communities as well…
The sociolinguistics of variety identification and categorisation
In addition to the examination of non-linguists’ evaluations of different speech varieties, in recent years sociolinguists and sociophoneticians have afforded greater attention towards the ways in which naïve listeners perceive, process, and encode spoken language variation, including the identification of language varieties as regionally or socially localised forms. The present study attempts to extend understanding of non-linguists’ perceptions…
The people who are out of ‘right’ E nglish”
Previous research indicates that evaluations of speech forms reflect stereotypes of, and attitudes towards, the perceived group(s) of speakers of the language/variety under consideration. This study, employing both implicit and explicit attitude measures, investigates 158 J apanese university students' perceptions of forms of UK , US , J apanese, C hinese, Thai and I ndian E nglish speech. The results show a general convergence between students' …
UK university students’ folk perceptions of spoken variation in English
Non-linguists’ attitudes towards language diversity are important since they reflect preferences and levels of prestige associated with particular speech communities. However, few studies measuring native-speaker attitudes towards both L1 and L2 English have been conducted, including amongst UK-born students. This is surprising in light of recent internationalisation policies adopted by many UK universities and the resultant increase in overseas …
The competence and warmth of Thai students’ attitudes towards varieties of English
Previous language attitude research indicates that presenting speech forms allows listeners to index information about and attach social meaning to the perceived group(s) of speakers. Despite the volume of research undertaken elsewhere in Asia, there appear to be no in-depth studies investigating Thai nationals’ evaluations of specific varieties of English speech. This large-scale study examines 204 Thai university students’ attitudes towards for…
American or British? L2 speakers’ recognition and evaluations of accent features in English
Recent language attitude research has attended to the processes involved in identifying and evaluating spoken language varieties. This article investigates the ability of second-language learners of English in Spain (N = 71) to identify Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GenAm) speech and their perceptions of linguistic variation between these speech varieties. Data were gathered using a verbal-guise experiment in which respondents…
Implicit–explicit attitudinal discrepancy and the investigation of language attitude change in progress
Socio-psychological research has frequently reported low correlations between explicit and implicit attitude measures for a range of socially sensitive topics. There is mounting evidence that implicit and explicit evaluations do not change at the same rate and thus any implicit–explicit attitudinal discrepancy (IED) may indicate attitude change in progress. However, researchers have yet to investigate whether differences between implicit and expl…
Identity and dialect performance
This interesting volume is a welcome addition to the increasing body of research investigating the relationship between individual and group identity construction and dialect use. The collection is in four parts, and comprises nineteen chapters examining dialect performance in a wide range of contexts. Reem Bassiouney’s useful introduction covers the groundwork for the scope of the work, and includes a detailed discussion of the term ‘dialect’, a…
Socio-psychological salience and categorisation accuracy of speaker place of origin
There exists a dearth of research investigating how listeners use their knowledge of variation in their L2 to categorise speaker provenance from stimulus speech. The present study, employing a free classification measure, examined 191 Thai university students' categorisations of the geographical origin of nine speakers of English. Analysis demonstrated participants were generally able to distinguish between native and non-native English speech mo…
The narrative of human suffering
Narratives about death and loss require sensitivity and handling with care. However, the influence of the specific language employed within such narratives is not well understood. To help address this gap, this article details the findings of two complementary studies. Study 1 examined the ways in which the 2014 Malaysian Airline MH370 air tragedy is linguistically defined and constructed in a number of newspapers in Malaysia and the UK. Study 2 …
National identity and the ownership of English in Nigeria
It has been argued that, especially in non‐Inner Circles of English, whether or not speakers consider language to be a harbinger of national identity affects their positioning as owners of that language. A plethora of prior studies have also demonstrated that language is of central importance regarding the ways in which people enact their national identities. In the case of Nigeria, national language(s) rhetoric has been particularly contentious.…
Implicit and explicit linguistic biases
Implicit and Explicit Language Attitudes and Language Attitude Change
Knowledge of public attitudes towards language‐based diversity can help uncover wider societal prejudices. Nonetheless, sociolinguists are increasingly aware of the limitations of using traditional explicit self‐report measures to gauge attitudes towards linguistic variation. Accordingly, a growing number of studies have adapted more recently developed socio‐psychological techniques—most particularly the implicit association test (IAT)—to access …
Linguistics (15 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (14 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (11 works) · Perception (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (8 works) · Political science (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works)