Accents and dialects Flashcards
Who conducted the Martha’s Vineyard study and when?
William Labov in 1961
How many people we interviewed for the Martha’s Vineyard study and what kind of people were they?
69- they were a diverse bunch of people (different ages, different social groups etc). Some were from the island, others were frequent visitors
What did Labov find out in his study?
He found that the fishermen from the island in particular pronounced certain diphthongs differently than many of the other subjects. It was as if they were subconsciously trying to distinguish themselves from tourists and assert themselves as local because they thought highly of the island and their way of life
What was Gary Ives’ headline theory and when did he research this?
Code-switching, 2014
What is code-switching?
It is when multi-lingual people consciously blend their languages together, using certain ones more at different times
What did the teenagers believe their use of language was until questioned further? What did they then discover about their language use?
They believed it was natural- how they had always spoken.
They then discovered that code-switching was a conscious decision that they make
What three reasons did the Bradford study teenagers give as to why they code-switch?
1- They tended to use English with their parents and an English/Punjabi mix when talking to friends
2- To create a ‘secret language’ type situation when swearing
3- To distinguish themselves from the ‘freshies’ who were born in Pakistan and had just moved to England because they felt like they had no connection with these people
What was the conclusion of the South London study?
It was found that MLE is more of a group identity than a cultural identity. While it does have Jamaican and Afro-Caribbean influences, the dialect is not limited to those with these ethnic backgrounds.
Why did Paul Kerswill decide to publicise his findings?
He felt that certain linguists treated MLE as something sinister that has ‘invaded’ English and brought ‘gangster culture into fashion’.
Give an example of a slang word that has Jamaican origins
‘Bare’
Give an example of a slang phrase that has English origins
‘my ends’
What did Kerswill say was a common reason why English mixed with other languages?
In places where there is a lack of funding and less than 50% of people are white British, there tends to be more of a community because people can’t travel away as much. This means that different cultures and languages come into more contact with each other
Who conducted the Capital Punishment experiment?
Howard Giles
Which accent was deemed the most impressive/professional during the capital punishment experiment?
RP
Which accent was deemed the least impressive during the capital punishment experiment?
Birmingham
Which accents seemed to be more persuasive in the capital punishment experiment?
Regional accents
What technique did Howard Giles use in 1973 and 1975 to determine how teenagers judged accents?
The ‘Matched-Guise’ technique
What did the ‘Matched-Guise’ technique involve?
Groups of teenagers would listen to a recording of the same person in different accents presenting the same speech
What did both results of the ‘Matched-Guise’ technique show?
They both showed that the people valued the opinion of the people with the upper-class or RP accents more than those with more regional accents. In 1975, the speech was about psychology, and they rated the RP accent higher in terms of intelligence
What are some criticisms of the ‘Matched-Guise’ technique?
The subjects may have had no real opinion but had to give an answer.
People could have been giving the answer they thought was correct rather than what they actually believed.
The listeners may have realised that it was the same person speaking with different accents on the recordings.
The recordings didn’t reflect actual speech as it was somebody imitating an accent.
What is convergence and why would somebody converge?
When somebody adjusts their accent, speech style or dialect in a way that is more like those around them.
Somebody could consciously do it in order to appear friendly or to appear local, or they could do it subconsciously in order to fit in.
What is divergence and why would somebody diverge?
It is making your speech more individualised and away from those around you
Somebody could do this in order to seek covert prestige, to assert dominance over somebody overtly (such as a teacher with a student), or to distance yourself from your peers.
Who came up with accommodation theory?
Howard Giles
Where did Peter Trudgill carry out his study?
Norwich in 1974
What did Trudgill find out about the -g ending in -ing words during the Norwich study?
He found that people who dropped the -g sound tended to be of a lower class, especially in men rather than women
Which group of people tended to believe that they dropped the ‘g’ sound in -ing endings less than they actually did in the Norwich study?
Women
Which group of people tended to believe that they dropped the ‘g’ sound in -ing endings more than they actually did in the Norwich study?
Men
When did people in the Norwich study seem to pronounce the ‘g’ sound in -ing endings more? What does this show?
When they were more focused on their speech. This shows that people might consciously attempt to sound more upper-class than they actually are
Who conducted the Bradford Study in 1985 and what did they find?
Malcolm Petyt- he found the lower socio-economic class, the more likely people were to h-drop. If that person moved up social groups, they may start doing this less
What was Labov’s other investigation and what did he find?
The NYC shops. He found that the employees in the most expensive shop of the three (SAKs) were most likely to pay attention to the ‘r’ sound in words (‘card’/’door’)
