Many Australians have firm views about language use. Discuss some of the prevailing attitudes towards language use and explain the reasons behind these prejudices.

The language used by Australians displays attitudes in a number of ways. Standard Australian English is the variety of English that is used amongst formal contexts, and not using it can be seen as inappropriate. Furthermore, Aboriginal English is a variety that is seen as devalued and inferior. Moreover, teenspeak is a variety that is criticized by prescriptivists and the older generations. With many varieties comes many attitudes to these varieties, however, many of these attitudes are changing.

When not used in the situation where it is needed, people often have attitudes against not using Standard Australian English (SAE). SAE is the variety taught in schools and used by the government. It is also the variety that is used on television as it is has overt prestige and is understood by most Australians. Therefore, if SAE is used incorrectly or in a way that the public disagrees with many people will have strong attitudes towards those who use it incorrectly. This can be seen in Channel 10’s Olympic Coverage (Stimulus A) where the commentators placed the derivational morpheme ‘-ing’ onto nouns such as ‘medal’ and ‘podium’ converting them into verbs ‘medalling’ and ‘podiuming’. The usage of terms such as these can be seen as non-standard as they are terms that are not standard. However, when the situation changes and becomes more informal, the usage of SAE is seen as undesirable as it reinforces social distance and solidarity. Therefore, SAE can be seen as appropriate or inappropriate depending on the context in which it is seen.

Aboriginal English is a distinctive language variety used in our society which is seen as inferior to other varieties. Indigenous Australians use this variety to express their culture and identity as ‘language is a tool for us …to signal who we are…’ (Trudgill) however it is often seen as substandard and is devalued as it does not have the prestige or status that other varieties, such as Standard Australian English, have. Furthermore, this belief may be due to some of the distinctive features of Aboriginal English such as non-standard use of prepositions, ‘he was scared from the dog’ and the lack of auxiliary verbs, ‘We workin’ instead of ‘We are working’. However, over recent times there has been a greater acceptance of this variety. In February, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull delivered an opening speech in the language of the Ngunawal which was seen with great approval. This example demonstrates the greater recognition that these varieties are receiving and displays the shift in attitude towards Aboriginal English. Furthermore, this recognition was also seen when NT minister Bess Nungarrayi Price delivered a speech in parliament in her native tongue, Walpiri. This example further demonstrates the greater acceptance that many Aboriginal English varieties are receiving. Therefore, as some see varieties such as Aboriginal English as inferior many are now seeing how this variety promotes Aboriginal cultural values leading to a greater acceptance of it.

Teenspeak is a variety of Australian English used to create covert prestige in groups but is criticised by prescriptivists as well as the majority of the older generation. Teenagers use this language to define themselves and create an identity that is unique. Furthermore, as social researcher Marc McCrindle has stated teenagers use this language to “create an ‘in group’ which is them and an ‘out group’ which is their parents”. This exclusion occurs due to the fact that many do not understand the language of teenspeak and therefore condemn it. Terms such as ‘ODE’ and ‘Low key’ are some examples of teenspeak that has become apparent in 2016. Prejudices towards teenspeak can also be explained by the constantly changing nature of it. For those of the older generation it can be difficult to understand the language as terms are constantly being replaced by other terms making it very difficult to keep up as many have only just become familiar with terms that aren’t as popular now.

The language used by Australians can be criticized. Those who do not speak in the standard or use Teenspeak are often condemned. Furthermore, varieties such as Aboriginal English are seen as inferior and are devalued because of the language they use. However, attitudes towards these varieties are changing as there is a greater acceptance for what is seen as right.