Accent and Dialect - Theory

Question 1

Howard Giles 1973 Communication Accommodation Theory

Answer 1

-When speakers adapt their language to sound closer to or more distant than others (convergence).

Question 2

Convergence

Answer 2

Adapting language to sound like others.

Question 3

Upwards Convergence

Answer 3

Speakers with regional accents gravitate towards RP accents.

Question 4

Downwards Convergence

Answer 4

Speakers with RP accents move towards broader regional accents.

Question 5

Leslie Milroy’s Social Network Theory

Answer 5

-After a study in Belfast, found that people with broader accents have a higher density social network. Not gender based.

Question 6

Density

Answer 6

Refers to the number connections people have.

Question 7

Multiplexity

Answer 7

Refers to the number of ways in which two people know each other.

Question 8

Overt and Covert Prestige

Answer 8

-Overt refers to the obvious prestige associated with the use of standard English.
-Covert is the non-standard variety that is often stigmatised by wider society.

Question 9

Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Study

Answer 9

-Interested in how the locals pronounced diphthongs /aw/ and /ai/.
-Interviewed 69 people pronounced there diphthongs differently to differentiate them from mainland tourists.

Question 10

Standard English

Answer 10

-Traditionally seen as the most ‘correct’ way to speak English and therefore ‘better’ than other varieties.

Question 11

Descriptivism

Answer 11

The approach focuses on how language was used.

Question 12

Prescriptivism

Answer 12

Focuses on the rules of language and why is its used and changes.

Question 13

Idiolect

Answer 13

Language used by individuals.

Question 14

Sociolect

Answer 14

The language used by specific social groups.

Question 15

Labov’s New York’s Department Store Study

Answer 15

-Wanted to see whether or not there was a corelation between class and the pronunciation of the post-vocalic ‘r’.
-Studied 3 stores of different classes.
-Found employees with higher socioeconomic status pronounced the rhotic ‘r’ more frequently.

Question 16

Trudgill’s Norwich Study

Answer 16

-Studied h-dropping, glottal stops and the omission of the ‘-ing’ sound.
-More people in lower classes omitted the ‘-ing’ sound.
-H-dropping more common in lower classes.
-Glottal stops more common in lower classes.