Sociolect and Occupation Flashcards
What does the Facework theory suggest and who proposed it?
- Goffman
- People ‘work’ to present themselves in a way which will prove socially advantageous
What are the parts of the Facework theory?
- Footing
- Face
- Line
- Face threatening acts
What is footing and what theory is it apart of?
- Goffman’s Facework theory
- A speakers stance towards another participant in a conversation
- Judgements of social status
What is face and what theory is it apart of?
- Goffman’s Facework theory
- The social value a person claims for themselves to ‘save face’
What is line and what theory is it apart of?
- Goffman’s Facework theory
- A pattern of verbal/non verbal acts in which you express yourself
What are face threatening acts and what theory is it apart of?
- Goffman’s Facework theory
- Communicative acts that impinge on a hearer’s need to be respected
- Speakers may perform these to ‘dent’ another speaker’s face, attempting to diminish their social standing to enhance their own
- When an attempt to dent our face has been made we must do some lacework and adjust our line to repair our face
What are the 2 faces and what theory are they apart of?
- Goffman’s Facework theory
- Positive face- need to be liked and accepted + we try to satisfy the positive face wants of others by expressing admiration or showing express
- Negative face- our right not to be imposed on or interrupted
What is repair to face and what theory are they apart of?
- Goffman’s Facework theory
- Facework done after receiving a face threatening act
- Adjusting the line in order to regain social status
What is the politeness theory and who proposed it?
- Brown and Levinson
- Strategies are developed to save the hearer’s ‘face’
- Politeness strategies are developed to tea; with face threatening acts
What are the 3 parts of the politeness theory?
- Bald on record
- Positive politness
- Negative politeness
What is bald on record and what theory is it apart of?
- Brown and Levinson’s Politeness theory
- Strategy involving no effort by the speaker to reduce the impact of face threatening acts
What is positive politeness and what theory is it apart of?
- Brown and Levinson’s Politeness theory
- Strategies to minimise the social distance between speaker and audience
What is negative politeness and what theory is it apart of?
- Brown and Levinson’s Politeness theory
- Strategies to minimise the effects of unavoidable face threatening acts
What is the accommodation theory and who proposed it?
- Howard Giles
- Speakers adjust their speech to accommodate the other participants in the conversation
What are the 4 parts of the accommodation theory?
- Upwards convergence
- Downwards convergence
- Mutual convergence
- Divergence
What is upwards convergence and what theory is it apart of?
- Howard Giles’ Accommodation theory
- When a speaker of a lower status attempts to converge towards the language characteristics of a higher speaker
What is downwards convergence and what theory is it apart of?
- Howard Giles’ Accommodation theory
- When a speaker adopts the language characteristics of a person they’re addressing
What is mutual convergence and what theory is it apart of?
- Howard Giles’ Accommodation theory
- Both speakers converge to linguistically ‘meet in the middle’
What is divergence and what theory is it apart of?
- Howard Giles’ Accommodation theory
- When speakers’ style of speech move further apart, increasing social distance
What is code switching?
Shifting from the use of 1 linguistic characteristic to another
What is diglossia?
2 linguistic varieties existing alongside in a community; one ‘high’ and one ‘low’ variety
What are the 2 types of prestige and who suggested them?
- Labov
- Overt
- Covert
What is overt prestige and who suggested it?
- Labov
- Prestige associated with observing perceived social norms and behaving in a socially desirable manner
- E.g. received pronunciation
What is covert prestige and who suggested it?
- Labov
- Prestige that derives from behaviour that flouts perceived social norms and conventions
- E.g. regional accents
Who created the restricted and elaborated code theory?
Basil Bernstein
What is restricted code and who suggested it?
- Basil Bernstein
- How we speak to people who share similar interests, experiences or expectations of the world
- Can depend on a local cultural identity
- Expresses similarity between speaker and listener
- Reinforces group identity
- Simple vocabulary and often predictable conversations
What is elaborated code and who suggested it?
- Basil Bernstein
- Language use is less concerned with the group and more with the individual
- Consists of standard syntax, more subordinate clauses and fewer unfinished sentences
- More logical connectives: “if/unless”
- Wider vocabulary and harder to predict conversation
What is the conversational maxims theory and who proposed it?
- Paul Grice
- A successful, cooperative conversation relies on 4 principles which will usually be observed
What are the 4 conversational maxims and what theory are they apart of?
- Paul Grice’s Conversational Maxims
- Maxim of Quantity
- Maxim of Quality
- Maxim of Relevance
- Maxim of Manner
What is the maxim of quantity and what theory are they apart of?
- Paul Grice’s Conversational Maxims
- Don’t say too much, don’t say too little
What is the maxim of quality and what theory is it apart of?
- Paul Grice’s Conversational Maxims
- Don’t say what you believe to be false or that for which you lack evidence
What is the maxim of relevance and what theory is it apart of?
- Paul Grice’s Conversational Maxims
- Stick to the topic and only shift at an appropriate point
What is the maxim of manner and what theory is it apart of?
- Paul Grice’s Conversational Maxims
- Avoid obscurity of expression
What is the social network theory and who proposed it?
- Milroy
- Members of speech community are connected to each other in social networks which are characterised by network specific norms and values including norms of language use
What are the 2 types of social networks and what theory are they apart of?
- Milroy’s Social Network theory
- Open
- Closed
What are open social networks and what theory are they apart of?
- Milroy’s Social Network theory
- Individuals whose contacts don’t know each other
What are closed social networks and what theory are they apart of?
- Milroy’s Social Network theory
- Individuals whose contacts all know each other
- Little contact with out group members
What are multiplex social networks and what theory are they apart of?
- Milroy’s Social Network theory
- Individuals are linked in several ways; job, family, leisure activities
What are anti languages and who proposed them?
- Michael Halliday
- Extreme versions of sociolect
- Tend to arise among subcultures and groups that occupy a marginal or precarious position in society, especially where central activities of the group place them outside the law
- Created by the process of relexicalisation (the substitution of new words for old), creating a distinctive vocabulary
What is polari?
- A form of slang incorporating Italinate words, rhyming slang and Romani
- Classed as a language variety, sociolect and anti language
Who used polari?
Mainly gay men, lesbians, female impersonators, theatre people, prostitutes, sea queens and straight people connected to theatre
How many polari words are there?
- 20 core words
- 500 polari terms
What are some examples of polari words?
- Bevvy- drink
- Riah- hair
- Omi palone- gay man
- Naff- awful/tasteless
What is relexicalisation?
- The process of using new words for old
- Often occurs in anti languages
What is the in and out groups theory and who proposed it?
- Giles and Coupland
- Individuals belong to a wide variety of social groups based on ethnicity, religion, political views, etc..
- These groups shape each persons collective identity
- Humans simplify the world by using categories
What is the in and out groups theory and who proposed it?
- Giles and Coupland
- Individuals belong to a wide variety of social groups based on ethnicity, religion, political views, etc..
- These groups shape each persons collective identity
- Humans simplify the world by using categories to create understanding, as we commonly categorise ourselves and others using social identity groups
What are in groups?
Social affiliations to which an individual feels they belong
What are out groups?
Social affiliations to which an individual feels they don’t belong
What are the lexical classifications of sociolect and who proposed them?
- Julie Coleman
- Slang
- Jargon
- Cant
What is slang?
Ephermal, often colloquial, lexis used by any in group to establish them from other groups
What is jargon?
Professional language allowing precise discussion of topics related to the given vocation
What is cant?
Lexis used to obscure meaning from the out group, usually with criminal intent
What is teenage talk and who suggested it?
- Stenstrom
- The language of teenagers is characterised by irregular turn taking, indistinct articulation, word shortening, verbal duelling, slang, taboo and language mixing
What is language and adolescent peer groups and who suggested it?
- Penelope Eckert
- Teenagers mark use of linguistic features such as ‘like’ and ‘okay’, rising intonation and multiple negation in their speech
What is audience design theory and who suggested it?
- Bell
- Speakers or writers design/shape their language to take the audience into account
What are the 4 audience types of the audience design theory?
- Addressees
- Auditors
- Overhearers
- Eavesdroppers
What are addressees and what theory are they apart of?
- Bell’s Audience Design Theory
- Ratified, directly addressed listeners
What are auditors and what theory are they apart of?
- Bell’s Audience Design Theory
- Ratified but not directly addressed listeners
What are overhearers and what theory are they apart of?
- Bell’s Audience Design Theory
- Non ratified, detectable listeners
What are eavesdroppers and what theory are they apart of?
- Bell’s Audience Design Theory
- Non ratified, undetectable listeners
What are referees and what theory are they apart of?
- Bell’s Audience Design Theory
- Non audience members who the speaker attempts to identify
What is the social identity theory and who proposed it?
- Tajfel and Turner
- When an in group identity is made or becomes salient, people often wish to emphasise characteristics of their group, including the use of sociolect
What is talk at work and who suggested it?
- Drew and Heritage
- Identified key differences between institutional talk and everyday language
What were the differences identified by Drew and Heritage’s talk at work theory?
- Goal orientation
- Turn taking rules or restrictions
- Allowable contributions
- Professional lexis
- Structure
- Asymmetry
What is politeness in the workplace and who proposed it?
- Holmes and Stubbe
- A great deal of workplace talk is firmly embedded in its social and organisational context
What is an asymmetrical power relationship?
An ongoing association between parties wherein a difference of status is a major factor in the transactions between parties
What are communities of practice and who suggested it?
- Wenger
- The idea that workplace groups can be described as communities of practice: groups who regularly engage with each other, share a repertoire of resources which enables them to communicate in a kind of verbal shorthand which is often difficult for outsiders to penetrate
What is officialese and enlistic language varieties and who suggested it?
- Levy
- There are 2 specialises varieties in military language
What are the 2 specialised varieties in military language and what theory is it apart fo?
- Levy’s officialese and enlistic language varieties theory
- High variety
- Low variety
What is the high variety of military language and what theory is it apart of?
- Levy’s officialese and enlistic language varieties theory
- Formal, high levels of jargon, euphemistic, constructed by those with the highest status
What is the low variety of military language and what theory is it apart of?
- Levy’s officialese and enlistic language varieties theory
- More emotional and colloquial
What is the performativity of identity theory and who proposed it?
- Barker
- “Identities are not universal, fixed or essential entities, but are contingent of historically and culturally specific constructions of language”
What is the role of language in identity and who proposed it?
- Joanna Thornborrow
- “One of the most fundamental ways we have of establishing our identity, and shaping other people’s views of who we are, is through our use of language
Where and when was polari used?
- 1930’s-1970’s
- Private gay drinking establishments in London/theatres
Why did people use polari?
- Protection/secrecy
- Excluded outsiders and allowed gay people to conceal their sexuality
Why don’t gay people use polari now?
- Popularity of sketch shows ruined it
- Partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 meant there was less need for a secret language
- In the early 1970’s gay liberationists wanted to move away from ‘camp’ stereotypes of gay men, and polari was increasingly viewed as unattractive and old fashioned
What does patient-doctor discourse usually consist of and who suggested it?
- Ong et al
- Often non voluntary
- Emotionally laden
- Requires close cooperation
- Interaction in non equal positions
What dud Roger Shuy suggest which makes doctor-patient communication successful?
- Different use of jargon
- Cross cultural differences involving terminology, attitudes to ill health, social distance
- Discourse structure
What is the order of patient-doctor communication as proposed by Paul Ten Have?
- Patients problem presentation
- Questioning
- Physical examination
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Leave talking
- Preliminary sequences
What are some of the traits of lawyer language?
- Rules and restrictions
- Latin and French etymology due to the 1066 Battle of Hastings whereby the French won, so the government language turned to French
- Formal and powerful
- Asymmetrical
- Field specific
- Goffman’s Footing and Coleman’s jargon
- Complex sentences with lot of subordinate clauses (hypotaxis)
What affects an individuals language in spoken conversations?
- Participants’ relationship to each other (accommodation theory)
- Goffman’s footing
- Politeness, bald on record, negative politeness
- Facework
- Maxims
- Social connections (age, relationships)
- Context, topic, purpose
What are common ideas around football chants?
- The idea behind most chants is to get under the skin of the opposition
- Football lingo= badge of identity
- Distinct ‘maleness’ about football crowd language
- Football vocabulary is the biggest unifier of all
