Penelope Eckert: The Jocks and Burnouts Study

Question 1

What does Eckert anaylse in ‘Jocks and Burnouts’?

Answer 1

• the relationship between social identity and linguistic behaviour in suburban Detroit high school.
• their corresponding language habits.

Question 2

What are jocks associated with?

Answer 2

• school sponsored activities
• higher social status
• adheres to school norms

Question 3

What are burnouts associated with?

Answer 3

• resistance to school culture
• lower social status
• non-school activities

Question 4

What type of study is this?

Answer 4

• ethnographic study of social class in Detroit high schools, as it highlights how language can both reflect/reinforce social group identities.

Question 5

What does ethnographic mean?

Answer 5

• qualitative research that involves immersing yourself in a particular community/organisation to observe their behavior/interactions up close.
• ‘ethnography’ also refers to the written report of the research that the ethnographer produces afterwards.

Question 6

Which social group respected authority?

Answer 6

JOCKS: aimed to gain praise/recognition for their actions.

Question 7

Which social group did NOT respect authority?

Answer 7

BURNOUTS:
- did not seek the approval/praise of their superiors/teachers.
- engaged in rebellious behaviour.
- anti-school point of view.

Question 8

What method did she use first?

Answer 8

participant observation:
- spending a significant time within the high school environment.
- observing interactions between students in classrooms/hallways/cafeterias.
- this allows her to witness firsthand how these groups interacted/behaved with each other.

Question 9

What is the second method she used?

Answer 9

informal interviews:
- engaged in informal conversations with students from both groups, gaining insights into their perspectives, experiences, uses of language.

Question 10

What is the third and final method she used?

Answer 10

data collection:
- she collected the data throughout her observation period:
- recording snippets of student conversations (with permission).
- taking field notes about observed interactions.
- gathering artefacts (school publications/student writing samples) that reflected group identity.

Question 11

What did Eckert discover about students?

Answer 11

students spoke more like those who they shared norms, values, attitudes with.

Question 12

How did the jocks talk?

Answer 12

in a socially prestigious way - reflection of their middle-class background.

Question 13

How did the burnouts talk?

Answer 13

exaggerated pronunciation associated with the urban accent of their Detroit neighborhood (subgroup).

Question 14

How did the jocks view the burnouts’ language?

Answer 14

critical of their ungrammatical language, frequent use of expletives (rude word/expression) and not being articulate.

Question 15

How did the burnouts view the jocks’ language?

Answer 15

seen as speaking like their parents.

Question 16

What did Eckert find about the language differences?

Answer 16

• language differences were more closely linked to communities of practice (a mutual engagement in the shared practice) rather than to specific social differences (class, ethnicity, gender etc.)
• regardless of someone’s background, they were more likely to speak like someone who shared an interest or activity with them than with someone who didn’t.