Influence of Social Class/Groups on how we speak: Moore Flashcards
What was Moore attempting to find the answer to in her research?
Why certain communities did and didn’t use the non-standard ‘were’ in the place of ‘was’
How was ‘was’ used in the social groups Moore observed?
‘Was’ was used as a plural
How was ‘were’ used in the social groups Moore observed?
‘Were’ was used as a second person singular
Where did Moore do her study?
Bolton
What 2 social classes were the girls in Moore’s study from?
Upper working class or Lower middle class
How long did Moore carry out her studies for?
2 years
How many groups did Moore observe?
4
What did Moore call the 4 groups she observed?
Communities of Practice
What are Communities of Practice?
Social groups of people who do activities together and share common goals
Name the 4 groups that Moore classed the girls in
Populars, Townies, Eden Valley Girls, Geeks
How did the Populars act?
Engaged in drinking and smoking and had an anti-school attitude
How did the Townies act? What were they a breakaway group from?
They were a breakaway group from the Populars who engaged in more risky and rebellious activities like drug taking
How did the Geeks act?
They took part in the choir or orchestra and had a positive attitude to school
How did the Eden Valley Girls act?
They came from a more desirable area to live outside of Bolton and engaged in activities like shopping or dancing
How many Populars did Moore observe?
14
How many Townies did Moore observe?
4
How many Geeks did Moore observe?
14
How many Eden Valley Girls did Moore observe?
7
How did the Populars treat the non-standard ‘were’ usage?
Never disfavoured the non-standard ‘were’
What did Moore find with the Populars in terms of how many never used the non-standard ‘were’ and why?
3 out of 14 never used the non-standard ‘were’ and they were from a higher social class
How did the Townies treat the non-standard ‘were’ usage?
They highly favoured the non-standard ‘were’
Why did the Townies highly favour the non-standard ‘were’?
Their social group was more likely to feature working class boys who may have also used this feature
How did the Geeks feel about the non-standard ‘were’?
They disfavoured it
Why did the Geeks disfavour the non-standard ‘were’?
Because they were more school-oriented which encouraged the use of standard form dialect more
What was found with 4 out of the 14 Geeks? Why?
They had a high frequency of using the non-standard ‘were’ but they were from a lower social class
How did the Eden Valley Girls feel about the non-standard ‘were’? and why?
They only used the standard form of ‘were’ and ‘was’ because they were all from the same higher level social class
Give a sentence example of the non-standard usage of ‘were’ or ‘was’ in this study.
‘I were out with Lucy last night. She were in a right good mood.’
What did Moore conclude affected the use of language? (Name 3)
Social activities, Region, People you socialise with
When did Moore conduct this study?
2010
