ABSTRACT

The sociolinguistic context of language use contributes to individuals’ linguistic knowledge. However, how it does so has yet to be fully conceptualised or quantitatively investigated within the language sciences. To meet this goal, a psychometrically sound evidence-based measure that captures important aspects of contextually influenced linguistic experience is necessary. In this paper we describe the development and validation of the Contextual and Individual Linguistic Diversity Questionnaire (CILD-Q). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted with data from 353 participants (62.9% South African, 37.1% UK, Mage = 29.3, SD = 10.09). A three-factor solution best describes the structure of the CILD-Q: Multilingualism in Context (contextual use and societal practice of multiple languages within a community), Multilingualism in Practice (direct and indirect linguistic exchanges and conversational interaction), Linguistic Diversity Promotion (societal and governmental endorsement of linguistic variation). Item scores corresponding to these three factors showed sufficient reliability (α’s > 0.80). The CILD-Q provides a novel and holistic manner to measure sociolinguistic diversity and can be used when measuring individuals’ language experience within and across populations from differing sociolinguistic contexts.

摘要

语言使用的社会语言背景有助于个人的语言知识。然而，它是如何做到这一点的，尚未在语言科学中得到充分的概念化或定量研究。为了实现这一目标，有必要采取一种心理测量学上合理的、基于证据的措施来捕捉受语境影响的语言体验的重要方面。在本文中，我们描述了情境和个人语言多样性问卷（CILD-Q）的开发和验证。对 353 名参与者的数据进行了探索性因素分析（62.9% 南非人，37.1% 英国人，M年龄 = 29.3，SD = 10.09）。三因素解决方案最好地描述了 CILD-Q 的结构：语境中的多语言（社区内多种语言的语境使用和社会实践）、实践中的多语言（直接和间接的语言交流和对话互动）、语言多样性促进（社会和政府对语言变异的认可）。这三个因素对应的项目得分显示出足够的可靠性（α > 0.80）。CILD-Q 提供了一种新颖且全面的方式来衡量社会语言多样性，可用于衡量来自不同社会语言背景的人群内部和人群之间的个人语言体验。