Language And Social Class Flashcards
Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory:what does Henri spilt the world into?
In groups and out groups (them and us)
What is Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory?
We exaggerate the difference when it comes to dialect and categorise ourselves into particular groups
What are indicators of social class?
Household income, own property or rent it, whether you have savings, kinds of people you mix with, cultural activities you engage in
What is prestige variety?
Posh, associate it with success
What is stigmatized variety?
Not posh
What is R.P?
Received Pronunciation, doesn’t have a place linked to it
What are the symbols for regional accent?
/ae/
Prestige accent is ______________
Sounds and noises
Prestige dialect is ______________
Words and grammar/Standard English
What words associate with overt prestige?
Intelligence,education,achievement
What words associate with covert prestige?
Toughness,rebellious,pride (value for bad things)
Who proposed overt and covert prestige?
William labov
What varieties do educated middle class people tend to use?
R.P accent, standard English dialect
Who argues that weak groups are obliged to use the language of strong groups?
Louis Althusser
Middle class varieties are:
Overt prestige(wealth,sophistication,power)
And covert stigma(weakness,snobbery,selfishness)
Working class varieties are:
-Overt
stigma(poverty,simplicity,uneducated)
-Covert prestige(toughness,physical reliability)
What is prescriptivism?
Say what language should be like
What is descriptivism?
Say what language is actually like rather than what It should be like
Are you a descriptivist or a prescriptivist?
Descriptivist
What did prescriptivists want you to do?
Use middle class English (they will correct you into standard English and RP-like form)
What did Alan Ross talk about?
Middle class and genuine upper class
What did Alan Ross not talk about?
Working class or lower class people
Allan Ross:What are the symbols for middle class and upper class?
Non-u=middle class
U=upper class
Allan Ross:Middle class may attempt to sound like they’re from a higher class,what’s it called when you say a word that gives you away?
Shibboleth
Allan Ross:Middle class speakers wrongly choose_______ or ________ words over words they believe associated with working class
Pretentious or euphemistic
Allan Ross:Give 2 example of words that people may think arent posh but they are.
Jam is posh, preserve isn’t
“What?” Is posh rather than “pardon?”
What did Basil Bernstein(sociolinguist)notice?
That working class kids were underachieving in history and English unlike middle class kids(but not science and maths)
Basil Bernstein:What do working class kids language tend to be?
Implicit-you need to be there to understand it
Basil Bernstein:What do middle class language tend to be?
Explicit-you don’t need to be there to understand it
Bernstein talks about 2 things,what are they?
Restricted and elaborated code
Bernstein:What is restricted code?
Kind of language you use with family and friends in an informal setting, it’s implicit
Basil Bernstein:What is elaborated code?
Far more explicit
(use it for people we don’t know very well)
Basil Bernstein:What does elaborated code not rely on?
doesn’t rely on assumptions about the audience
Basil Bernstein:What can middle class speakers do?
Switch between restricted and elaborated code
What did Bernstein claim?
Both codes are good in the right place
Restricted code- lots of info in a few words
Elaborated code-much more explicit,l out more detail
Basil Bernstein:Who uses restricted code?
All families (working class speakers tend to only use restricted code)
Basil Bernstein:What do schools operate in?
Elaborate code
Basil Bernstein:What subjects does elaborate code not effect?
Maths and science
Basil Bernstein:Who are at a higher advantage for using elaborated code?
Middle class
What is a criticism of Basil Bernstein research?
He never found a speaker who couldn’t use elaborated code at all
Peter Trudgill’s Norwich study: what do the people who live Norwich generally not pronounce?
They generally g-drop
Peter Trudgill:What do the people in Norfolk generally pronounce?
They g-pronounce
What did Peter Trudgill study?
He studied Norwich speech (1970s) to find out why and how peoples accents varied
What certain letters did Peter Trudgill study?
He Studies the final consonant in words like “runnING” and “walkING”
Peter trudgill:The sound spelled “ng” is a ______
Velar nasal /ɲ/
Peter trudgill: In Norwich, they say “walkin”,”talkin”, what’s the symbol for missing the g dropping?
Alveolar nasal /n/
What are the 5 social classes Trudgill divided people into based on neighborhood, education,occupation?
Lower working class
Lower middle class
Middle working class
Upper middle class
Upper working class
Trudgill:What are the statistics of people using the velar nasal /ɲ/(g-pronounce)?
0%-1/3 lower class
1/3-100% upper class
Trudgill:what is something everyone can do in terms of g-pronouncing or dropping?
Everyone can style shift
Trudgill:what is there a direct correlation of
Direct correlation between higher class and g-pronounce
Trudgill:what is there a inverse correlation of?
Inverse correlation between formality and g-dropping (the less formal you are the more likely you are to g-drop)
What does covert,overt,prestige and stigma mean?
Covert=bad value
Overt=good value
Prestige= good
Stigma= bad
