(Re)creation of positive dialect appraisal and consequential dialect ideology: a study of overt attitudes towards Croatian Standard and dialect varieties.

The existence of the ideology of the standard variety has hardly ever been brought into question. Most sociolinguists agree that it is precisely its abstract nature that makes the standard language variety susceptible to becoming an object of a specific ideological system of sociocultural beliefs. However, not much has been said about the possible existence and/or (re)creation of dialect ideology. Nevertheless, broad definitions of standard language ideology lend themselves to an equally efficient application to what may be termed dialect ideology. This paper presents the results of one part of the research carried out among 2000 Croatian high school students in 2009 concerning overt attitudes towards Croatian standard and dialect varieties. Overt attitudes were elicited through the usage of direct questions about the informants’ evaluation of Croatian standard and dialect varieties. Presented results may be regarded as a contribution to broader attempts to identify the nature of the relationship between the ideology of the standard variety and the ideology of dialects.