Language Attitudes in St. Lucia

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Abstract
Results of the application of the matched guise to a sample of bilingual St. Lucians are presented. This method requires that respondents evaluate the personality traits of speakers whose tape-recorded voices are played to them. This technique has been used for measuring community-wide stereotyped impressions of language, and it has been widely employed in cross-cultural investigations. The results indicated that St. Lucian bilinguals have different evaluative reactions to their two languages, English and a French-based creole. Furthermore, the findings suggested that St. Lucians have a positive attitude toward this French-based creole, their native language. These findings contradict the view commonly expressed by St. Lucians on language usage questionnaires that English is the preferred language and that creole is not not equally valued.