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LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY AND MULTILINGUALISM

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Date Issued:
2015
Abstract/Description:
Over the last decade, linguistic relativity has seen a resurgence in research and discourse on thought, language, and culture. One particular facet of this research, multilingualism, has been relatively sparse in comparison to the wealth of research available focusing on individual languages and monolingual speakers. This study represents a preliminary investigation that enters this arena by focusing specifically on how speakers of English as a second language use English basic color terms in respect to monolingual speakers. This is done by using a modified methodology from the World Color Survey as a comparative model of a speaker's division of colors. Participants in this study illicit responses for 160 color tiles taken from the Munsell color chart used as the basis of the World Color Survey. The results of this study show that three of the ten multilingual participants division of the color space per English color terms falls outside of the normal range of variation between the monolingual English speakers who participated in this study. Though future research is needed to definitively posit the reasons for those participants color maps, this study provides a new window and inquiry into an under-researched area of linguistic relativity.
Title: LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY AND MULTILINGUALISM.
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Name(s): Casorio, Nicholas, Author
Reyes-Foster, Beatriz, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2015
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Over the last decade, linguistic relativity has seen a resurgence in research and discourse on thought, language, and culture. One particular facet of this research, multilingualism, has been relatively sparse in comparison to the wealth of research available focusing on individual languages and monolingual speakers. This study represents a preliminary investigation that enters this arena by focusing specifically on how speakers of English as a second language use English basic color terms in respect to monolingual speakers. This is done by using a modified methodology from the World Color Survey as a comparative model of a speaker's division of colors. Participants in this study illicit responses for 160 color tiles taken from the Munsell color chart used as the basis of the World Color Survey. The results of this study show that three of the ten multilingual participants division of the color space per English color terms falls outside of the normal range of variation between the monolingual English speakers who participated in this study. Though future research is needed to definitively posit the reasons for those participants color maps, this study provides a new window and inquiry into an under-researched area of linguistic relativity.
Identifier: CFH0004885 (IID), ucf:45431 (fedora)
Note(s): 2015-12-01
B.A.
Sciences, Dept. of Anthropology
Bachelors
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Linguistic Relativity
Multilingualism
Basic Color Terms
Linguistic Anthropology
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004885
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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