Dialect Identifiability, Language Attitudes, and Perception of Employability in Lebanon

Abstract

Linguistic profiling, as a general term, is defined as the phenomenon wherein an individual passes judgment toward another individual based on their dialect, determining their capabilities in other matters (Baugh, 2003). This sociolinguistic phenomenon often leads to the development of language attitudes toward a dialect and its speaker. This study aimed at examining the attitudes of speakers of Lebanese Arabic from Beirut, Tripoli, and Saida toward the dialects of Beiruti, Tripoli, Saida, Syrian, and Palestinian speakers in Lebanon. Following a matched guise technique, the participants were asked to judge the speakers based on the dialects that they speak. The participants were asked to fill out an eight-item questionnaire after listening to recordings of the different speakers’ dialects. The questions focused on whether participants were able to identify the speaker, their attitudes toward them and their dialect, and whether they find them to be employable individuals. The results show that the most identifiable dialect is the Tripoli variety while the least identifiable dialect is the Palestinian variety, the most positive attitudes and perception of employability are toward the Saida variety while the most negative attitudes are toward the Beirut variety, and the most negative perception of employability are toward the Syrian variety. Results also show no significant correlation between the gender of the participant and identifiability. However, there is a slight correlation between the gender of the speaker and identifiability, notably in Beirut and Tripoli. Results also demonstrate that women are seen with more positive attitudes and perception of employability. The results are situated in sociolinguistic and socio-political studies and frameworks for analysis, such as immigration, political tension, the media, the news, among other phenomena.