Attitudes Towards Non-Native English In The United States: An Analysis Of Second Language Speakers And English-Only Policies.

This study focuses on how attitudes in the U.S. towards native English, non-native English, and other languages affect and reflect the population that speaks them in an effort to record the attitudes and experiences of bilingual native and non-native English speakers particularly relating to their interactions with native English speakers and their feelings about and identification with English and the other language(s) they speak. 25 recorded in-person and video conference interviews were conducted with native and non-native English speakers in and around Boone, North Carolina that focus on how these individuals interact with English and other languages within the United States. My findings suggest that bilingual L1 English speakers, particularly Anglo Americans, are more highly valued by American society than Americans who may have greater levels of fluency in their languages, but are non-native English speakers, and that this linguistic discrimination is supported by modern racial attitudes and the resulting racialization of linguistic and cultural characteristics in the United States.