The Swedish teacher in a dialectal context

The aim of this sociolinguistic study was to investigate relationships between the use of language, attitudes, and school practice. The first method of collecting data was by using speech recordings. 24 students between the ages of 18-19 were recorded. These recordings were subsequently transcribed and analyzed in order to establish to what extent the students speech contained 4 selected geographically specific dialectal variables. The second method of collecting data was by using a questionnaire answered by 40 students ages 17-18. The results obtained from this study highlight that the students in the town of Örnsköldsvik realize the 4 investigated dialectal variables, but in a lesser degree than its ́ counterparts in the northern part of Sweden and that there was little difference regarding dialects between boys and girls. Furthermore, the study showed that boys have a more positive attitude towards the local dialect than girls and that there is a correlation between attitude and willingness to move from Örnsköldsvik. In addition to this the students also answered that they did not believe that use of dialect affects teachers ́ grading during oral exams.