Identity theory

Question 1

Martha’s Vineyard- William Labov 1963

Answer 1

A subconscious counter culture
He interviewed 69 people from different age, ethnic and social groups and focused on the pronunciation of the diphthongs /au/ and /ai/
Findings:
The younger speakers diverged from standard english norms, rejecting mainland values and converged downwards to the pronunciation associated with the fisherman.
Believed traditional values were infringed by summer visitors. Wanted to set themselves apart from them.

Question 2

Ny department stores- William Labov 1966

Answer 2

All about prestige and “fitting in”
Studied the speech in three Manhattan stores that were within the three social class sectors (lower, middle and upper). He aimed to measure hoe /r/ pronunciation was influenced.
Findings:
Middle class store= Used greater upward convergence due to aspirational living ie overt prestige
Upper class store= /r/ pronunciation was the greatest
Lower class store /r/ pronunciation was the lowest as it wouldn’t appeal to their customers

Question 3

Velar Nasal /n/ in Norwich- Peter Trudgill

Answer 3

Sampled 5- speakers from different electoral wards in Norwich. Believed those of a lower social class would be more likely to pronounce word endings with the spelling -ng with n ie "walkin"
Findings: "Walkin" more frequently used amongst the lower class speakers and much more often in mens speech than womans. 
Men= covert prestige 
Woman= overt prestige        *Genderlect 
Observers paradox limits merit

Question 4

Milroy- social network theory (1980)

Answer 4

All about social class and hierarchy 
Proposed a persons "social network" accounted for the different ways of speaking and can be determined by the factors 1) density and 2) multiplexity 

The degree of integration= status of an ‘insider’ or ‘outsider’ (we converge and diverge to them)

Question 5

Milroy- Belfast study (1987)

Answer 5

Studied 3 poor working class areas with high unemployment and researched how the different communities spoke.
Undercover as a “friend of a friend” to study how integration related to lang
Gave a network density score (1-5)
Findings:
Higher the score= a higher use of non-standard pronunciation. Lower score= weaker regional accents
ie the closer you are with someone the closer you are to the vernacular * We are a product of our context

Question 6

Halliday- Anti- Languages (1976)

Answer 6

Used to explain the forms of sociolects that arise to support subcultures that seek some sort of covert identity (eg polari)
Can sometimes be associated with deviance and criminality
He identified 9 feaures common in anti langs:
Mainly used in speech, it is the language of an anit society and its inaccessible to non users

Question 7

Lave and Wenger- communities of practice (1991)

Answer 7

Identified 3 crucial strands that are about the way people talk, their beliefes, values and power relations between memebers:

1. Mutual engagement (regular interaction)
2. Joint negotiated enterprise (common goal)
3. Shared repertoire (similar communication style)

Question 8

Eckert- Jocks and Burnouts (2000)

Answer 8

Observed the habitual behaviours of American high school students and identified two groups: jocks and burnouts
Findings:
People tended to talk like the people they shared social values with.
Jocks= spoke in a ore prestigious way reflecting middle class background. Critical of the burnouts for their ungrammatical lang
Burnouts= exaggerated pronouns associated with urban accent. Viewed jocks as talking like their parents

Question 9

Baker- Polari (2002)

Answer 9

Researched Polari ( sociolect mainly used by gay men)
Spread to navy and theatre scene
Differs form standard due to inventive lexicon
Considered a slang and properties of an anti lang
Included borrowings and words fromed by rhyming slang