Sociolinguistic Maturation Flashcards
What is the concept of sociolinguistic maturation?
An age at which a person isn’t influenced by other varieties of languages which would change the person’s own speech style
What is the age that sociolinguistic maturation happens?
No set age, although research has shown that it begins in late teens early twenties
What happens after sociolinguistic maturation?
Adults are unlikely to alter their accent or dialect due to new strong sociolinguistic factors such as moving to a different area
What happens before sociolinguistic maturation?
Children are much more likely to modify and vary their speech according to the sociolinguistic factors around them
Example to support the theory:
Sebba’s “Catford Girls’ Possee” - older family members not changing their speech to fit with London and English dialects, but the girls did.
What does the example also support?
How younger generations are the main promoters of change and they are able to use techniques like code switching
Study to help support the theory:
Kerswill’s Milton Keynes study - children changed their language much more than the adults to fit the language of those around them
