Language and Age

Question 1

Cheshire - Reading study

Answer 1

• Looked at 11 non-standard forms used by children against their adherence to the law on the playground at a school in Reading
• Included multiple negation and non-standard use of ‘what’ and ‘ain’t’
• Found that all children that approved of criminal activities/petty crime within their peer groups were more likely to use non-standard forms
• More boys than girls approved - can deduce that non-standard variations are conscious choices in language
• There is a clear prestige around standard and non-standard forms
• Those who abide by the law - overt prestige, those who rebel against the law/rules/social norms - covert prestige

Question 2

Eckert - Types of Age

Answer 2

• Chronological - the physical time someone has been alive
• Biological - the maturity of the body
• Social - the way someone is developed in society

Question 3

Tagliamonte

Answer 3

• Teenagers have gained a mastery in a new set of registers
• ‘Like’ as a quotative verb is on the increase in anecdotes
• Almost a quarter of all adjectives are intensified

Question 4

Stenstrom (2014)

Answer 4

• Teenspeak consists of:
• Slang
• Conversational overlapping
• Shortening of words
• Taboo and expletives

Question 5

De Klerk

Answer 5

Teenagers have a freedom which allows them to rebel against the linguistic norms to mark themselves as different to others