Accents and dialects

Question 1

Who conducted the Martha’s Vineyard study and when?

Answer 1

William Labov in 1961

Question 2

How many people we interviewed for the Martha’s Vineyard study and what kind of people were they?

Answer 2

69- they were a diverse bunch of people (different ages, different social groups etc). Some were from the island, others were frequent visitors

Question 3

What did Labov find out in his study?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What was Gary Ives’ headline theory and when did he research this?

Answer 4

Code-switching, 2014

Question 5

What is code-switching?

Answer 5

It is when multi-lingual people consciously blend their languages together, using certain ones more at different times

Question 6

What did the teenagers believe their use of language was until questioned further? What did they then discover about their language use?

Answer 6

They believed it was natural- how they had always spoken.
They then discovered that code-switching was a conscious decision that they make

Question 7

What three reasons did the Bradford study teenagers give as to why they code-switch?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

What was the conclusion of the South London study?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Why did Paul Kerswill decide to publicise his findings?

Answer 9

He felt that certain linguists treated MLE as something sinister that has ‘invaded’ English and brought ‘gangster culture into fashion’.

Question 10

Give an example of a slang word that has Jamaican origins

Answer 10

‘Bare’

Question 11

Give an example of a slang phrase that has English origins

Answer 11

‘my ends’

Question 12

What did Kerswill say was a common reason why English mixed with other languages?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Who conducted the Capital Punishment experiment?

Answer 13

Howard Giles

Question 14

Which accent was deemed the most impressive/professional during the capital punishment experiment?

Answer 14

RP

Question 15

Which accent was deemed the least impressive during the capital punishment experiment?

Answer 15

Birmingham

Question 16

Which accents seemed to be more persuasive in the capital punishment experiment?

Answer 16

Regional accents

Question 17

What technique did Howard Giles use in 1973 and 1975 to determine how teenagers judged accents?

Answer 17

The ‘Matched-Guise’ technique

Question 18

What did the ‘Matched-Guise’ technique involve?

Answer 18

Groups of teenagers would listen to a recording of the same person in different accents presenting the same speech

Question 19

What did both results of the ‘Matched-Guise’ technique show?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What are some criticisms of the ‘Matched-Guise’ technique?

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

What is convergence and why would somebody converge?

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

What is divergence and why would somebody diverge?

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Who came up with accommodation theory?

Answer 23

Howard Giles

Question 24

Where did Peter Trudgill carry out his study?

Answer 24

Norwich in 1974

Question 25

What did Trudgill find out about the -g ending in -ing words during the Norwich study?

Answer 25

He found that people who dropped the -g sound tended to be of a lower class, especially in men rather than women

Question 26

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?

Answer 26

Women

Question 27

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?

Answer 27

Men

Question 28

When did people in the Norwich study seem to pronounce the ‘g’ sound in -ing endings more? What does this show?

Answer 28

When they were more focused on their speech. This shows that people might consciously attempt to sound more upper-class than they actually are

Question 29

Who conducted the Bradford Study in 1985 and what did they find?

Answer 29

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

Question 30

What was Labov’s other investigation and what did he find?

Answer 30

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’)