Inseguretat lingüística o consciència normativa? Inseguretat i ús de la llengua entre els joves valencians

Abstract

Summary: In this article we analyse the relationship between the use of the Catalan language in the Valencian Country and the linguistic insecurity of students in their last years of compulsory education (between age 14 and 16). Two different indexes have been produced: the first as regards the formal linguistic insecurity (the consciousness of the distance between the normative linguistic usages and the speakers’ own usages), and the second concerning the perception and the beliefs as regards this linguistic insecurity. The analysis of the results shows that those students who have the best linguistic competence and use the Catalan language most often, have a lower perception of their own linguistic insecurity but a higher formal linguistic insecurity. This contradiction could be interpreted as being a result of their better linguistic competence. The paper also offers some reflections on the theoretical concept of linguistic insecurity. [Keywords: Linguistic insecurity, linguistic usage, Catalan language, perception of linguistic insecurity, formal linguistic insecurity].