An integral part of ethnicity is the question of attitudes. Each group or
community has certain attitudes towards itself and towards the other groups around it. These attitudes usually offset one group from the others and are
evaluative, e.g. our group A is better than group B which in turn is better
than group C. The attitude can apply to the group as such, but also to
certain features of the group such as language. A negative attitude towards a
group will probably include the group's language, but a negative attitude
towards a language need not include the group which speaks it. In SchleswigHolstein,
for example, many people consider Danish an "ugly" language,
principally because of its glottal stop (st(f)d), but are very fond of Denmark
and the Danes. The attitude one has towards one's own group can be
influenced by the attitude another group has towards it, especially in the
asymmetric relationship of a minority group versus a majority group. Thus,
if the majority group considers the minority group inferior, it is possible that
the members of the minority group will accept this opinion and take it as
their own. The attitude a person has towards his own group is, however,
important, as it may influence his desire to retain or reject those features
which determine his membership of the group (Giles et al., 1977), which
in turn will be of relevance for education, as it may affect a parent's willingness
to allow his child to participate in vemaculai education and/or a child's
willingness to study (in) the vernacular.