Diversity (Identity) Flashcards
Google Slides (50 cards)
What is meant by identity?
The fact of being who or what a person or thing is
What can an identity be created by?
Individual characteristics (hair,clothing etc…)
Social Group, where members have common characteristics
What did sociolinguist, Joanna Thornborrow say? (2004)
One of the most fundamental ways we have of establishing our identity, and of shaping other people’s views of who we are, is through the use of language.
Where did Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard study take place?
A fairly isolated island location but popular summer tourist location.
Who did Labov interview in his MV study?
69 participants from different age, occupation and ethnicity
What was Labov interested in finding out in his MV study?
In how participants articulated dipthong phonemes /au/ and /aI/ (as in house or bite)
What technique did Labov used to get answers of his participants in his MV study?
He interviewed people to subtly encourage them to say words which contain these vowels.
How did the Fisherman (age 30-60) and up-islanders (wealthy) in MV Study vary from the typical mainland pronunciation?
They centralised diphthongs, meaning the initial /a/ sound was pronounced with the tongue in a more central position of the mouth.
Who were the heaviest users of the centralised pronunciation of the diphthongs in MV Study?
Young men who identified themselves as native ‘Vineyarders’ , rejecting the values and speech styles of the mainland.
Why did the Fisherman in particular feel angry and not want to accept a lot of wealthy summer visitors in MV study?
They believed when they were present they disregarded the fisherman’s traditional way of love. This encouraged the Vineyarders to establish a non standard dialect to retain their social identity.
What has following sociolinguistic studies found out about MV Study?
There is still a correlation between vowel pronunciation and a sense of belonging to the island. Residents are still concerned about large scale tourism and its impact on their livelihoods. Thus, social factors driving the linguistic change appear to be very much alive.
Why was language such an important factor in MV Study?
It helped group identification,solidarity and the signalling of differences. In MV Study their group was marginalised/under threat so overt signals on linguistic difference can help preserve identity and independence.
What did Labov believe about high social class speakers?
The more frequent they would use the rhotic /r/ in speech.
What department stores did Labov visit in his NY Department Store Study?
Saks (upper class)
Macy’s (middle class)
S.Klein (lower class)
What did he find in the higher social class customers of the shops in the NY department store study?
The more frequent use of the prestigious /r/, therefore rhoticity appears to relate to social status.
What do sociolinguist think about the rhoticity in NY at the time of Labov’s study?
It was an important indicator of social status and identity.
What was Basil Bernstein’s sociolinguist theory? (1960s)
Language codes, which were developed to explain inequalities based on social class as found in language use.
What are the two different codes in Bernstein’s theory?
Elaborated and Restricted speech codes
What made Bernstein want to research into language codes?
Due to the relatively poor performance of WC students in language based topics, when they were achieving as high has MC students in mathematical topics.
What are some features of the restricted code?
More informal and context dependent
What are features of the elaborate code?
It is more explicit as it does not assume the listener shares understanding
Why does WC use a restricted code?
As that is all they have learned in the socialisation process.
Why do MC use elaborated and restricted code?
As they are more geographically, socially and culturally mobile so have access to them both.
What do Bernstein’s ideas fail to recognise?
He doesn’t consider the diversity of speech and he made generalised assumptions
