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Social Groups (seneca) - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Trudgill's Norwich study looked at the pronunciation of the words "walking" and "talking"
      - he was looking for the non-standard worms "walkin" and "talkin" (g-dropping)
      - he also looked at the use of "-s" in verbs, like "he goes to school" and the non-standard "he go to school"
      - the aim of this research was to see if there was a correlation between class, gender, and the use of non-standard forms
      - Trudgill asked participants to state how often they used standard and non-standard forms
      - findings
        
        men over-reported their use of non-standard forms, showing they desired covert prestige
        
        women used more standard forms that men in a direct class-for-class comparison
        
        women of all classes over-reported the number of standard forms they used, which showed that they cared about overt prestige
        
        the higher the class, the more standard forms were used
      - the research concluded that class is more of a determiner than gender
    - - he looked at
        
        h-dropping (losing the "h" in words like "horse" and "hold")
        
        the RP /ʌ/ (u) sound in words like "good"
        
        /ʊ/ (uh) sound in words like "put" in the city of Bradford
      - findings
        
        the lower the social class, the more liely the speaker was to drop the "h"
        
        the socially aspirational speakers incorrectly used the sounds in words like cushion, pronouncing it with the /ʊ/ sound instead of the /ʌ/ sound
    - - in the 1970s, Bernstein conducted research into the ways classes talk
      - he asked groups of boys to describe a comic strip containing a football smashing a window
      - from this he defined 2 codes
        
        restricted code
        
        inherently deictic
        
        has a relaxed syntax (word order)
        
        uses many simple coordinating conjunctions
        
        elaborated code
        
        uses a standard syntax (word order)
        
        uses more subordinate clauses and subordinating conjunctions
      - analysis of code use
        
        claims that whilst middle-class children can use both codes, it is rare to see a lower-class child using anything other than restricted code
        
        both classes understood both codes when spoken to in them
        
        there are times when it is advantageous to be able to use both codes
        
        e.g. social and bonding situations are helped through restricted code, but formal events are helped by elaborated code
      - support - William Labov
        
        conducted research in 1969
        
        his research featured black boys speaking in what would be classed as restricted code, but with a logical argument
        
        this suggests that there is an issue with linguistically articulating ideas rather than there being a cognitive deficit
    - - investigated the use of the post-vocalic rhotic-r (the "r" sound that appears after vowels) in words like "banter" and "mark"
      - method
        
        he visited 3 stores of different price and fashion statuses in New York (Saks, Macy's and Klein's)
        
        he would ask a question about the location of a department which would evoke the answer "fourth floor", and then ask the assistant to repeat the answer
        
        at this point, the speech stops becoming spontaneous and starts becoming more conscious
      - findings
        
        the lower-middle class were most aware of the overt prestige (showed biggest change between spontaneous and conscious speech). This is indicative of their need to social climb
        
        the lower classes tested were more aware of the prestige form and so were more likely to change the way they spoke when consciously speaking
        
        the upper-middle class changed the least, indicative of their already higher social status
- - - - all children that approved of criminal activities within their peer group were more likely to use non-standard forms
        
        more boys than girls approved
        
        we can deduce that non-standard variations are conscious choices in language
      - there is a clear prestige around standard and non-standard forms
      - those who abide by the law clearly gain their prestige in an overt way from behaving
      - the covert prestige of using the non-standard forms fits in with the breaking of laws - these children rebel against the rules in the same way they rebel against the social norms
  - - - the Eden Valley Girls
        
        girls who came from very well-off backgrounds
        
        were focused on school but engaged in activities like shopping too
        
        used the standard form "was" almost all the time. This has been put down to them having a higher social class. They also lived geographically distant to each over, so maintaining a friendship with other people was harder
      - the Populars
        
        girls who were not focussed on school and engaged in rebellious activities like drinking and smoking
        
        did not always use the non-standard form
        
        3 of the members were higher class, and they didn't use the non-standard form at all
      - the Townies
        
        a breakaway group from the Populars, being more rebellious and often engaging in activities like drugs and sex
        
        often made use of the non-standard form
        
        made up of a mix of upper-working-class and lower-middle-class girls, as well as working-class boys
      - the Geeks
        
        school focused, engaging in in-school activities like the choir
        
        generally disliked the use of the non-standard, however the 4 members who did use the non-standard were all from a lower social class