accent and dialect

Question 1

Joanna thornborrow (2004)

Answer 1

argues that we create our identity chiefly through language “one of the most fundamental ways we have of establishing our identity, and of shaping other peoples views of who we are is through our use of language.
this may include specifically lexical choices

Question 2

william labov (1961)

Answer 2

•martha’s vineyard study
•labov was interested in the pronunciation of particular vowel sounds (diphthongs aw and ay).
•discovered that a small group of fishermen between 31 and 45 who were original inhabitants pronounced vowel sounds differently to others on the island to establish an identity for themselves as vineyarders

Question 3

Paul kerswill(2013)

Answer 3

•multicultural London english (mle) has west Indian and south asian, cockney and estuary roots and is most prevalent in east London.
~blend of dialects
~ core speakers come from low opportunities backgrounds

Question 4

Gary ives(2014)

Answer 4

Commissioned two case studies to be carried out in London and Bradford. Groups of teenagers were interviewed about their language use and dialect.
Bradford- mix Punjabi and English
- discovered that the boys used code switching between English and Punjabi mostly for taboo words or phrases as the boys claimed the Punjabi words for these terms were funnier or sounded better
South London- people begin to sound the same language regardless of the colour/ ethnic background hence mle

Question 5

Leslie milroy (2002)

Answer 5

Increased geographical mobility leads to the large scale distribution of close knit, localised networks that have historically maintained highly systematic and complex sets of socially structured “linguistic norms” he explains this as the reason for dialectal levelling.
However he points out that some feature of dialects have survived and are now used all over the country e.g multiple negation like aint

Question 6

Peter trudgill (2000)

Answer 6

Discusses attitudes towards those who speak with an rp accent
Rp speakers are perceived as soon as they start speaking as haughty and unfriendly by non rp speakers unless they are able to demonstrate the contrary.
Rp accents may show more educational potential

Question 7

Howard Gilles (1975)

Answer 7

Used a matched guise approach ( this involves participants listening to the same speaker using a range of different accents and then passing judgment on each different variant. He used this approach when researching perception of rp and the Birmingham accent by two groups of 17 year olds. The teenagers rated the rp speaker higher in terms of competence and intelligence. He found that teenagers were more likely to value the arguments and opinions put forward by a person who used a more prestigious accent.

Question 8

Dixon Mahoney and cocks (2002)

Answer 8

Used the same matched guise approach to see if there was a correlation between accent and how we perceive someone’s guilt. The results showed that the suspect was perceived to be significantly more likely to be guilty when he spoke with a non standard Birmingham form

Question 9

Seligman, tucker and lambert (1972)

Answer 9

Found that teachers perceptions of students were heavily influenced by speech

Question 10

Choy and dod (1976)

Answer 10

Teachers make judgements on students ability and personality based on the way they speak