Core Theories (Mocks)

Question 1

Robin Lakoff

Answer 1

1975
Female language is deficient- lacks authority when compared to men.
- precise colour terms
- weak expletives
- hedges
- intensifiers
- tag questions

Question 2

Pamela Fishman

Answer 2

1983
Women use more tag questions than men to start conversations with males and to subsequently continue and sustain dialogue to gain conversational power rather than a sign of tentativeness, called conversational ‘shitwork’ because of what they perceive to be their dominant role.

Question 3

Peter Trudgill

Answer 3

Men use more non-standard pronunciation and language - they attach ‘covert prestige’ (more value) to non-standard forms.

Question 4

Judith Butler

Answer 4

1990
Coined term gender ‘performativity’ - the idea that we ‘perform’ playing a gendered role.

Question 5

Paul Kerswill Dialect Levelling

Answer 5

Features of dialect merging into other dialects by social constructs and geographical diffusion.

Question 6

David Rosewarne Estuary English

Answer 6

A type of accent identified as spreading outwards from London and containing other features of both RP and London speech.

Question 7

Peter Trudgill Norwich Study

Answer 7

Individuals from lower social classes were more likely to use non-standard pronunciations, such as dropping the /r/ sound in words like ‘car’ or ‘farmer.’
Investigated social impact on accent (social class, gender).

Question 8

Woody et al.

Answer 8

2011
Discovered that in their study that students who texted more had slightly higher scores on tests that measured phonological awareness and had no negative effects on other aspects of literacy.

Question 9

Penelope Eckert Jocks and Burnouts

Answer 9

Investigated impact of social groups in an institution with internal hierarchies.
Burnouts (social rejects, 42%)
Jocks (status, 13%)

Negation- burnouts (both genders 50%) use more regularly than jocks (boys 1/5).

Question 10

Peter Trudgill Social Stratification

Answer 10

Term used to refer to any hierarchical ordering of groups within a society.

Question 11

Macauley

Answer 11

1991
Middle class (Adverbs of degree, relative pronoun ‘who’, evaluative adjectives, hedges)
Lower class ( Dislocated syntax and use more pronouns. Tend not to speak in complete sentences as frequently and syntax structure tends to be grammatically incorrect.)

Question 12

Drew and Heritage inferential frameworks

Answer 12

Discourse community share inferential frameworks, consisting of implicit ways of thinking, communicating and behaving. Also suggests that there are strong hierarchies of power within organisations, with many asymmetrical relationships marked by language use.

Question 13

John Swales

Answer 13

Defined discourse community:
- Share a set of common goals
- Communicate internally, using and ‘owning’ one or more genres of communication
- Use specialist lexis and discourse
- Possess a required level of knowledge and skill to be considered eligible to participate in the community

2011- before COVID lockdown and transfer to hybrid working.

Question 14

Judith Baxter double voiced discourse

Answer 14

Women were 4 times more likely to engage as a meaning of acceptance and approval in the workplace. Used to avoid or lessen confrontation. Often used by less powerful speakers to negotiate threats.

Question 15

Grice’s conversational maxims

Answer 15

For effective communication in a conversation, participators must adhere to certain conversational rules:

Quality: truth.

Quantity: as informative as required, too much/little.

Relevance: be relevant to topic.

Manner: avoid ambiguity, be brief and be orderly.

Question 16

Brown and Levinson’s Politeness strategies

Answer 16

Developed in order to save ‘face’:

Positive politeness: other speakers desire to be respected.

Negative politeness: recognise other speakers desire but assume you are imposing on them, as a result, add super-polite forms.

FTA: purposefully disregarding one’s face wants (expletives, ignoring, etc).