Class Variation Flashcards
Labov - New York 1966 - procedure
looked at the rhotic ‘r’ or post-vocalic ‘r’, seen as an overtly prestigious language marker in New York since WWII, as in words like car, farm, bar, shark etc.
Labov - New York 1966 - findings
He found that in casual speech upper middle-class speakers used the postvocalic ‘r’ more than lower middle-class speakers. (True)
However, an interesting finding was that in more formal situations the reverse was the case. This suggested that lower middle-class speakers were much more conscious of their own speech (class consciousness) and were more anxious to make a good impression through the way they spoke.
Trudgill - Norwich 1982 - procedure
examined the relationship between social class and a number of different linguistic variables including the pronunciation of ‘-ing’ at the end of words such as ‘fishing’ and ‘singing’.
Trudgill - Norwich 1982 - findings
He found, as he expected, that respondents lower down the social scale were more likely to drop the ‘g’ in pronunciation of the ‘-ing’ ending. He also found that for all the social classes, pronunciation of the final ‘g’ sound increased according to the formality of the situation.
This confirmed that people are conscious of their speech, adopting more socially prestigious features in more formal contexts.
Petyt - Bradford 1980 - procedure
examined the dropping of the aspirant ‘h’ sound at the beginning of words such as ‘house’.
Petyt - Bradford 1980 - findings
He found that there was a close relationship between ‘h’ dropping and social class.
● Lower working-class speakers on average dropped 93% of ‘h’ sounds
● Upper working-class speakers 67%
● Lower middle-class speakers 28%
● Upper middle-class speakers only 12%.
Bernstein social codes theory 1971- elaborate code
a manner of speech closest to being universally understandable. Works in situations that are not context dependent because the language is understandable and includes sufficient detail for clarity. Will resemble an approximation of SE but can also include wider vocabulary and more subordination in structures..
Bernsteins social code theory 1971 - restricted code
a code of speaking that to larger groups could exclude some listeners, but in social groups can create a sense of includedness – a feeling of belonging. Restricted codes can be found among friends and families and other tightly knit social groups. Would include dialect and sociolectal usages, Black English, or just speaking very colloquially.
Bernsteins social code theory 1971 - code switching
the ability of a speaker to dip in and out of elaborate and restricted codes, depending on pragmatics/context.
Milroys social networking theory - closed and open networks
Closed networks - where a person’s connected contacts all know each other. They tend to be ‘high density’.
Open networks - where a person’s connected contacts tend not to know each other. They tend to be ‘low density’.
Milroys social networking theory - language between network groups
The theory basically deals with language used between network groups.
1. The transmission of information - could be as simple as a casual conversation to sharing of important news. It is not the information that is important, but HOW it is shared.
2. Behavioural and language changes within communities.
Milroys social networking theory - multiple networks
Multiplex networks - where a person’s connected contacts in a particular network belong to multiple groups, e.g. having a friend who is also a work colleague, who also is close to one of your family members, occupying the same social network as another colleague who you barely know.
Overt prestige
Attached to some dialect by the community that defines how people should speak to gain status in that community
Covert prestige
Exists among nonstandard speakers and defines how people should speak to be considered members of that particular group.
