Social Stratification

Question 1

Labov 1966

Answer 1

Phonological variable ‘R’ pronunciation - Rhotic R
Employees in different department stores (various budgets) - Saks/ Macy’s / S. Klein
Asked people to say ‘fourth floor’

Question 2

Labov’s Findings 1966

Answer 2

In casual speech, the upper middle class speakers used the post vocal ‘R’ more than the lower middle class - Confirming his hypothesis
The lower class used the rhotic R in more formal situations
- As they wanted to fit in more - felt they were under more pressure

Question 3

Trudgill 1982

Answer 3

G- Dropping - Norwich
Sociolinguistic speech patterns - questions designed to be informal and encourage natural speech patterns
Utilising 6 factors:
Occupation, Education, Income, Housing, Locality of residence, father’s occupation

Question 4

Trudgill’s Findings 1982

Answer 4

All social classes increased the final ‘-g’ sound according to the formality of the situations
Confirming that people are conscious/ aware

Question 5

Malcom Petyt 1980

Answer 5

‘h-dropping’ - Bradford
Examined the ‘h’ sound at the beginning of words such as ‘house’

Question 6

Petyt’s findings 1980

Answer 6

Upper Middle Class = 12% h-dropped
Lower Working Class = 93% h-dropped

Question 7

Bernstein 1971

Answer 7

RESTRICTED CODE: typically used by white working class - limited vocab, short, grammatically incorrect
ELABORATED CODE: typically used by middle class - wider vocab range, longer more grammatically structured sentences.

CODE SWITCHING: our ability to switch in and out of elaborate and restricted codes depending on pragmatics/context