Attitudes of Native Slovene Speakers Toward Anglicisms in the Slovene LanguagePodobnik, Tara (Avtor) Ilc, Gašper (Mentor) language attitudesanglicismsSlovenenative Slovene speakersnational identityThe Slovene language has, throughout its colorful history, played a pivotal role in the formation of the Slovene national identity. Its position between four languages of politically powerful nations strongly affected its vocabulary, and the efforts of linguistic purists to keep Slovene free of any foreign influences became the protection of national identity. Despite strong negative attitudes of certain linguists toward loanwords, however, average Slovene speakers continue to use them to this day. If frequent use implies positive attitudes, the attitudes of Slovenes toward anglicisms, the use of which has increased during the last few decades, should also be positive. The theoretical part of this master’s thesis is dedicated to the definition of attitude as a psychological concept, its formation, development, stability, and components. The following chapters focus on attitudes in linguistic contexts and the influence of English as a modern lingua franca on languages and cultures of other nations. The final chapters of the theoretical part illustrate the status of the Slovene language as an ‘inferior’ language until Slovenia’s independence, and the puristic movements that led to negative attitudes toward loanwords of the educated few. The empirical part presents data, collected through a questionnaire, on the familiarity and understanding of some commonly used anglicisms and the attitudes of native Slovene speakers toward anglicisms in the Slovene language. The data shows mixed attitudes toward anglicisms, which are overall positive among the youngest respondents and those that have learned English the longest, while the oldest respondents and those that have had the least exposure to English hold overall negative attitudes. Despite mixed attitudes, however, the familiarity and understanding of anglicisms are high across all groups, who overall agree that the use of anglicisms is inevitable and will only increase in the future.20212021-10-15 07:15:04Magistrsko delo/naloga132166sl