1 Running head: DISCOURSE ON THE USE OF ENGLISH IN DUTCH POP MUSIC The Discourse on the Use of the English Language in Dutch Pop Music Leiden University MA English linguistics MA thesis 2 DISCOURSE ON THE USE OF ENGLISH IN DUTCH POP MUSIC Abstract This paper investigated discourse on the use of the English language in Dutch pop music. An important term in this research was societal treatment. Societal treatment studies deal with the explicit manifestations of beliefs, feelings and behavioural intents present in a wide range of communications (Santello 2015). The questions which were researched in this thesis were: What are the language attitudes of the people of the Netherlands towards Dutch and towards English in pop music? Do they have a language preference? Three methods were used to look at the societal treatment of English and Dutch in pop music: content analysis, indirect measurement, and direct measurement (Van Meurs 2010). In the content analysis, Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) was gathered about the use of Dutch and English in pop music from different forums. All this data was categorized into twenty-three different categories. The indirect measurement consists of a questionnaire which focused on the four tendencies which were found in the content analysis. These four tendencies were the connection to the song, the understanding of the song, the thoughts on the lyrics, and the enjoyment of the song. The goal of this questionnaire was to define if there were differences in the treatment of Dutch and English in these tendencies by letting people evaluate different video clips. In all the video clips Dutch artists were present but half of the video clips were sung in Dutch and the other half was sung in English. The direct measurement was the creation of two discussions online which focused on upcoming new Dutch music genres and the language attitudes of the Dutch towards the Dutch language. Overall, the results show that most of the Dutch have a negative language attitude towards their first language and have a language preference for English in pop music. Keywords: language preference, language attitude, language choice, societal treatment, English, Dutch, Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) 3 DISCOURSE ON THE USE OF ENGLISH IN DUTCH POP MUSIC Table of Contents Title Page .............................................................................................................................. 1 Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 2 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Overview 1.2 Literature Review 1.2.1 The Effect of Globalization on Popular Culture 1.2.2 Identity 1.2.3 International Cultural Positioning of Countries 1.2.4 Societal Treatment 1.2.5 Research Questions 2. Methodology ................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Research Overview 2.2 Method I: Content Analysis ............................................................................................. 11 2.2.1 Research Overview 2.2.2 Material 2.2.3 Sample 2.2.4 Procedure 2.2.5 Establishing Inter-Coder Reliability 2.3 Method II: Indirect Measurement ................................................................................... 14 2.3.1 Research Overview 2.3.2 Instruments 2.3.3 Respondents 2.3.4 Material 2.3.5 Procedure 2.3.6 Statistical Treatment 2.4 Method III: Direct Measurement...................................................................................... 20 2.4.1 Research Overview 2.4.2 Instruments 2.4.3 Procedure 3. Results ............................................................................................................................ 22 3.1.1 Overview 3.2 Results: Content Analysis ............................................................................................... 22 3.2.1 Results Categorization of Data from Content Analysis 3.2.2 Combining Categories 3.2.3 Results: Abstract Categorization 3.3 Results II: Indirect Measurement .................................................................................... 25 3.3.1 Results Questionnaire 3.3.2 Results Q1, Q2, Q3: Connection, Understanding, Thoughts 3.3.3 Results: Highest and Lowest Mean 3.3.4 Results Q4: Enjoyment of the Song 3.3.5 Results Final Question: Feelings caused through Used Language in Music 3.4 Results III: Direct Measurement...................................................................................... 31 3.4.1 Results: Discussions 3.4.2 Results Q1: Upcoming Dutch Music Genres 3.4.3 Results Q2: Negative Views of the Dutch towards Dutch in Pop Music 4. Summary ......................................................................................................................... 33 4 DISCOURSE ON THE USE OF ENGLISH IN DUTCH POP MUSIC 4.1.1 Overview 4.2 Quick Summary ............................................................................................................. 33 4.2.1 Content Analysis 4.2.2 Questionnaire 4.2.3 Direct Measurement 4.3 Research Question ......................................................................................................... 34 4.3.1 The Two Research Questions and their Answers 4.3.2 Categorization 4.3.3 Questionnaire 4.3.4 Discussions 4.4 Comparison to Previous Research...................................................................................36 4.4.1 Globalization 4.4.2 Identity 4.4.3 New Music Genres 4.4.4 Classes 4.4.5 Filling the Gaps 4.5 Limitation ........................................................................................................................ 37 4.6 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 38 Appendixes ......................................................................................................................... 39 Appendix I: Content Analysis Data of Online Forums ........................................................ 39 Appendix II: First Categorization of Found Data of Content Analysis ................................. 61 Appendix III: Compact Categorization of First Categorization ............................................ 63 Appendix IV: Interrater Reliability Selected Coding Piece .................................................. 64 Appendix V: Coded Interrater Reliability Piece .................................................................. 67 Appendix VI: Variable Numbers in Interrater Reliability Content ........................................ 72 Appendix VII: Agreeing Percentages in SPSS between Interrater and Myself ................... 75 Appendix VIII: Answers to Question about Where the Participants grew up ...................... 76 Appendix IX: Complete Questionnaire .............................................................................. 77 Appendix X: Means Likert Scale „Connection‟, „Understand‟, „Thoughts‟............................ 87 Appendix XI: Responses to the Different Clips of the Questionnaire .................................. 89 Appendix XII: Responses to the Enjoyment of the Song .................................................. 101 Appendix XIII: Lay-Out SPSS Variable View of the Four topics „Connection‟, „Understand‟, „Enjoyment‟, „Thoughts‟ ........................................................................................... 104 Appendix XIV: Data SPSS Variables of Likert Scales Input ............................................. 105 Appendix XV: Means of Four topics „Connection‟, „Understand‟, „Enjoyment‟, „Thoughts‟........................................................................................................................... 107 Appendix XVI: Paired-Samples T-Test of Four Topics „Connection‟, „Understand‟, „Enjoyment‟, „Thoughts‟ ........................................................................................... 108 Appendix XVII: Chi Square of Likes/Dislikes to „Enjoyment‟ ............................................. 109 Appendix XVIII: Responses to the Two Created Discussions .......................................... 110 References ........................................................................................................................ 115 5 DISCOURSE ON THE USE OF ENGLISH IN DUTCH POP MUSIC 1. Introduction 1.1 Overview This thesis relates to the field of sociolinguistics, which concentrates on the relation between people and languages. This thesis in particular revolves around the people of the Netherlands and their relation with their own native language and their second language, English. As can be seen from the Dutch charts of 2016, only thirteen out of a hundred songs were sung in Dutch (DutchCharts 2016). These charts feature multiple international artists which may imply that the Dutch might have a preference for the English language in pop music. The specific area of study in this thesis is pop music which contains the English or Dutch language. The most important literature which focused on language preferences in music was written by the researchers Achterberg et al (2011), Van der Hoeven, Janssen and Driessen (2016), Meuleman and Savage (2013), DiMaggio (1987), Heilbron (2002), Ivkovic (2013), and Grijp (2003). The literature