Diversity (Regional Background)

Question 1

What is the definition of dialect?

Answer 1

A broad term which refers to the lexical and grammatical differences between regional variations.

Question 2

What is accent?

Answer 2

Refers to the phonological differences between the various regional areas.

Question 3

What are lexical variations?

Answer 3

People from different areas of the country have different words for everyday things (eg bread bun)

Question 4

How did linguist Carmen Llamas (2007) investigate lexical variation?

Answer 4

Using sense relation networks (SRNs)

Question 5

What does the SRNs task encourage participants to do?

Answer 5

List words they know or use for the concepts listed.

Question 6

What does SRNs research uncover?

Answer 6

Lexical variations across regions

Question 7

How did the SRNs demonstrate differences between social groups?

Answer 7

There is likely to be different answers from someone in their 80s rather than a teenager even if they grew up in the same area.

Question 8

Where and when did CRS originate?

Answer 8

The East End of London during the first half of the 19th century

Question 9

What does the Oxford English Dictionary tell us the first recordings of CRS were?

Answer 9

‘Joanna’ for piano, which tells us the way they pronounced this word (1846)
Barnet Fair for hair in 1857

Question 10

What is a matter of speculation around CRS?

Answer 10

Whether it was a linguistic accident, a game or a cryptolect developed intentionally.

Question 11

If CRS was deliberate what could its use of been?

Answer 11

To maintain a sense of community, allow traders to talk amongst themselves in market places or for criminals to communicate without the ploce understanding.

Question 12

What does linguist, David Crystal say about CRS?

Answer 12

The nations current obsession with celebrity culture has been responsible for more additions to the dialect. (Brad Pitt=Fit)

Question 13

What is happening regarding the geographical area of CRS phrases?

Answer 13

They are being used outside the original geographical area which the dialect is associated with and have become more generally used idiomatic (natural) phrases/expressions and established colloquialisms in British English.

Question 14

What level does regional variation happen at?

Answer 14

Grammatical

Question 15

What is the book by Arthur Hughes, Peter Trudgill and Dominic Watt called?

Answer 15

English Accents and Dialects (2012)

Question 16

What is an example of a relatively small grammatical difference between regions?

Answer 16

Contracted forms
Eg Southern British English = I haven’t got it
Northern British English = I’ve not got it

Question 17

What are the reasons we need a way of describing the sounds of accents which are separate from spelling?

Answer 17

British English spelling often doesn’t reflect the pronunciation whatever you accent (eg rough is not spelt ruff)
Accent variation is not normally reflected in written English, which usually follows standard conventions

Question 18

There are only 26 letters in the alphabet, how many separate phonemes is there approximately?

Answer 18

44

Question 19

What is the International Phonetic Alphabet? (IPA)

Answer 19

A system of symbols which represent all 44 separate phonemes of English.

Question 20

What does the IPA allow us to distinguish?

Answer 20

The difference between different regional pronunciations and typical accent features.

Question 21

What does most variations come from?

Answer 21

Differences in vowel phonemes rather than consonants

Question 22

What is an example where differences in vowel phonemes is not always constant?

Answer 22

Most people pronounce the vowel in drEss the same no matter the region whereas there is a great deal of variation in gOAt.

Question 23

What consonants stay the same no matter the region and which ones can have variations?

Answer 23

/s/, /f/ , /b/ and /d/ are usually constant and /k/ , /t/ can vary considerably.

Question 24

What is there an argument that is happening in the country instead of having a range of regional dialects?

Answer 24

That the country is moving towards a more national dialect.

Question 25

What is dialect levelling?

Answer 25

A process by which language forms of different parts of the country converge and become more similar over time, with the loss of regional features and reduced diversity of language.

Question 26

What does Leslie Milroy argue?

Answer 26

That increased geographical mobility leads to 'large scale disruption of close-knit , localised networks that have historically maintained highly systematic and complex sets of socially constructed norms.'

Question 27

What does Paul Kerswill claim?

Answer 27

That the reduction of rural employment and subsequent construction of suburbs and new towns are a factor in dialect levelling.

Question 28

What statistics does Kerswill use to prove his claims?

Answer 28

-1831 34% lived in cities -1931 80% lived in cities -1991 90% lived in cities -1990s 1.2% working in agriculture

Question 29

What are Kerswill's claims regarding social mobility?

Answer 29

He claims it has increased leading to the 'consequent breakdown of tight-knit working class communities'.

Question 30

What does he propose that 'increased interaction with people of other speech varieties' causes?

Answer 30

Dialect levelling.

Question 31

What did Foulkes and Docherty research? (1999)

Answer 31

Th - fronting : replacement of the /th/ phoneme with a /f/ or /v/. This feature seems to have spread from its London origins across the UK.

Question 32

In what order across the UK did th - fronting occur? (Foulkes and Docherty)

Answer 32

London area South East : Reading/Milton Keynes Central England : Midlands, South Yorkshire, East Anglia Northern England : Hull North East and Scotland : Newcastle and Glasgow.

Question 33

Britain has seen newer dialects, what are these associated with?

Answer 33

Wanting to project a sense of identity

Question 33

What are some survivors of dialect levelling?

Answer 33

Multiple negation Use of ain't Unmarked plurality (2 mile) Addition of present tense ( I likes) Non standard adverb usage (he ran quick)

Question 34

What is a key contributing factor to the emerging varieties of English?

Answer 34

Migration, many of these new dialects are associated with particular cultural groups such as those with Carribean or Asian background. Aspects of their native tongue are mixed with standard english.

Question 35

What is MLE?

Answer 35

MLE (Multicultural london english) is a term used by a group of linguists (Jenny Chesire, Paul Kerswill and Sue Fox) to describe the language they were hearing and recording in London between 2004 and 2010.

Question 36

Which areas was MLE mostly heard in?

Answer 36

Where there was a wide variety of ethnicities and different heritage languages.

Question 36

Instead of a separate variety of English what do they view MLE as?

Answer 36

'Repertoire of features' , which emphasises the fluidity of speech. MLE is therefore a multiethnolect.

Question 37

When is MLE usually picked up and where?

Answer 37

At a young age, particularly in schools where 50% of pupils English is a second language.

Question 38

What origin is a lot of the MLE slang from?

Answer 38

Afro-American or Jamaican.

Question 39

What does the term multiethnolect mean?

Answer 39

Describes a variety of related phenomena in the language of modern, urban contexts, especially in Europe. It highlights the mixed nature of our societies and the multiple influences on language.

Question 40

What are some of the language forms and practices Jenny Chesire describes that might come under the term multiethnolect?

Answer 40

-the way in mixed multicultural neighbourhoods, young people may combine elements from different heritage languages with the dominant mainstream language -a speech repertoire consisting of an identifiable core of innovative features -a stylistic resource that people can use in certain contexts with certain speakers in a process of constructing identity.

Question 41

What is Bradford-Asian English?

Answer 41

A new dialect and a type of multi ethnolect which is built up of interesting factors like code-switching. (English and Punjabi)

Question 42

What is code-switching?

Answer 42

Occurs when a bilingual speaker uses and alternates between different languages whilst talking.

Question 43

What is Peter Trudgill's attitudes towards accents?

Answer 43

RP speakers are perceived haughty and unfriendly until they oppose the stereotype Children with WC accents may be underestimated by teachers to have less educational potential unless they prove otherwise

Question 44

How do accents trigger social stereotypes?

Answer 44

Because they are often linked to specific regions, cultures,ages,genders and social classes.

Question 45

Accent is not protected by the Equality Act 2010, how can this function as a stand in for other forms of discrimination?

Answer 45

Against social class, ethnicity or regional groups.

Question 46

What is the 2008 Cool Brands ranking of the 'coolest' accent?

Answer 46

Queens English 20% Scottish 12% Geordie 9% Yorkshire 7% Cockey 7% Northern Irish 6% Welsh 5% Scouse 4% Mancunian 4% West Country 3% Brummie 2% Other/don't know 21%

Question 47

What did Stephen Cheliotis say?

Answer 47

My personal opinion is that I love the city and some of the transformation of the city centre has been really impressive but the British public still clearly have a negative perception of the Brummie Accent. This could be because of an outdated view of the city, perhaps a bit of snobbery is even just an element of the general public struggling to understand such a distinctive accent and self-deprecating sense of humour."

Question 48

What is overt prestige?

Answer 48

the standard forms of english usually have what is known as overt prestige, it is generally socially acknowledged as correct and therefore valued highly among all speakers of the language (RP)

Question 49

What is covert prestige?

Answer 49

Non-standard varieties of English are often said to have covert prestige. The kind of prestige that derives from linguistic behaviour that goes against the ‘norms’ and ‘conventions’ (Ways of speaking amongst speakers of accents such as MLE and other distinct regional accents and dialects).

Question 50

What is overt prestige related to?

Answer 50

Overt prestige is related to standard and "formal" language features, and expresses power and status.

Question 51

Why might speakers take elocution lessons?

Answer 51

Speakers seeking overt prestige may take elocution lessons to diverge from their regional forms of speaking.

Question 52

What is a good example of covert prestige?

Answer 52

Jenny Chesire's Reading Study.

Question 53

What is matched guise approach?

Answer 53

The matched-guise technique uses recorded voices speaking first in one accent, dialect or language, then in another. Listeners do not know that the speech samples are from the same person, but judge the two guises of the same speaker as two separate speakers.

Question 54

Who conducted matched guise studies?

Answer 54

Howard Giles

Question 55

What happened in Gile's 1975 psychology lectures?

Answer 55

Teenagers rated RP over Birmingham accent higher in terms of competence and intelligence.

Question 56

What happened in Gile's 1973 Death Penalty Talks?

Answer 56

Teenagers rated RP argument more impressive than those in regional accents. However, interestingly, those who listened to the regional accent speech were more likely to have been persuaded to change their minds than listeners to the RP.

Question 57

What was Dixon, Mahoney and Cox (2002) research?

Answer 57

'Matched guise approach', correlation between accent and perceived guilt. Participants responded to dialogue between police and suspects. Birmingham-accent suspect considered significantly more likely to be guilty than RP accent suspect.

Question 58

What was Neuliep and Speten-Hansen (2013) research?

Answer 58

Matched-guise’ approach Interested in link between ethno-centricis and perceptions of non-native accent Participants who were considered ‘ethnocentric’ gave lower ratings to non-native speaker

Question 59

What did Seligman, Tucker and Lambert (1972) find?

Answer 59

Teachers’ perceptions of students were heavily influenced by their speech.

Question 60

What did Choy and Dodd (1976) find?

Answer 60

Teachers make judgements on student-ability and personality based on their accent

Question 61

How many people did the Sitel Company Survey?

Answer 61

Surveyed more than 2,000 people across the UK

Question 62

What did the Sitel Company Survey find out about the Geordie accent?

Answer 62

The Geordie accent is not only the friendliest in the UK, it is also most likely to put you in a ‘good mood’’ Geordie was also ranked amongst the top five accents in terms of trustworthiness, helpfulness and efficiency

Question 63

According the Sitel Company Survey what was a result of the friendly Geordie Accent?

Answer 63

This may be why a number of companies have located their call centres in the North East.