week 4 - style and class

Question 1

what did Chambers say about class?

Answer 1

•‘In the industrialized nations, social class is the most linguistically marked aspect of our social being.’ (Chambers 2003)

Question 2

how do we mark social class?

Answer 2

• Jobs
• Where you live (city, town, specific place)
• Economic status
• Social network
• Education
• Family background
• Hobbies
• Which shops you go to

Question 3

what is Labov’s NYC department store study?

Answer 3

•assumes staff represent class divisions 
Saks -upper class Macy’s -middle class 
S. Klein -working class •enquired where ladies’ shoes were. eg: Fourth floor, sir
•Presence of /r/ has prestige in NYC •(r) in words such as farm and car
- made notes on every response. Wrote down rough age, ethnicity etc
- found: Saks = 38% non-rhotic variant 
- Macy's = 49% non-rhotic variant 
- S.Klein = 79% non-rhotic variant

Question 4

what is the attention to speech model?

Answer 4

•Based on idea that style shifts are triggered primarily by the amount of attention people pay to their speech.
Eg paying more attention to your speech in a job interview, making it more prestigious.
•When speech is unselfconscious, it will be more casual and closer to the vernacular.
•When speech is more self-conscious, it will be more formal, closer to a more standard variety

Question 5

what is stratification

Answer 5

the systematic and consistent patterning of a variant with respect to some factor (class, style, age etc)

Question 6

what is broad/sharp stratification

Answer 6

large changes in frequencies of use between groups of speakers

Question 7

what is fine/gradient stratification

Answer 7

small changes in frequencies of use between groups of speakers

Question 8

what do grammatical and phonetic variables often show?

Answer 8

Grammatical variables often show sharp stratification, phonetic ones often show gradient stratification

Question 9

what is an indicator

Answer 9

a linguistic variable which shows little or no style shifting

Question 10

what is a marker

Answer 10

a linguistic variable which shows style shifting

Question 11

what is a stereotype

Answer 11

a linguistic feature which is widely recognised and it often the subject of overt comment.

Question 12

what is statistical hypercorrection?

Answer 12

• Driven by linguistic insecurity (but can also be sign of change in progress)
• Nearly always classes on ‘cusp’ i.e. upper working class and lower middle class
• Statistical hypercorrection too much of a form in certain styles, certain situations
• Structural hypercorrection – overextension of a form… You and I went– He gave it to you and I

Question 13

what is audience design?

Answer 13

• Speakers tend to adjust their speech toward that of their addressees (these may also be 3rd party not present).
• Speakers shape their speech in response to addressees. (Bell, 1984)

Question 14

what is speaker design?

Answer 14

•Stylistic variation is viewed not as a reactive phenomenon, but as a resource in the active creation, presentation and recreation of speaker identity. •Identity is understood to encompass both personal and interpersonal dimensions.

Question 15

what did Coupland say about speaker design?

Answer 15

Linguistic features are viewed as resources speakers use to shape and reshape social structures such as class and gender groups as well as their positioning with respect to one another. (Coupland, 2001)