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Language Diversity - Social Class - Coggle Diagram
Language Diversity - Social Class
Labov - 1968 New York
Elicitation method used to study a prestige feature (Rhotic /r/) In three NYC department stores
Saks 5th Av. - Highest Prestige
Macy's - Higher Prestige
S.Klein - Lower Prestige
Elicitation method involved asking for items found on the Fou
r
th Floo
r
, allowing two attempts to display the prestige feature.
62% Usage in Saks, suggesting a level of prestige
52% Usage in Macys, suggesting social aspiration
20% Usage in S.Klein, suggesting lesser prestige
Criticism - These differences can be attributed to the majority white workforce at Saks, compared to other stores with greater ethnic diversity. Social class may be an important factor, but not the only one.
Trudgill
Norwich 1974
Triangles
Accents are placed on a triangle. As social class increases, there is less variation in accent. High social class is at the point, where there is no variation. Low social class is the base, where variation is common
Dialect is on a trapezium. It is read the same way as the triangles, but there is a small level of dialect variation even among the social elite. This is usually small, like "He's a man that/who likes beer".
Criticism - It asserts social class is the most important factor for diversity, but does not measure ethnicity, gender, peer groups, and strength of social network (see Jenny Cheshire reading Study and Belfast Study)
Cheshire - Reading Study
Young working class gangs on Adventure Playgrounds in reading. She created the Social Network theory.
Methodology: Participant Study. Gave each member of the group a social network score. Higher score meant higher integration into the group.
Social Network Score - Calculated by giving points for every behaviour that indicated group membership. This included use of swear words, and participation in criminal activity
Higher social network score meant higher accent accommodation, non-standard language use is a marker of group membership, such as
Non standard plural S
Negative COncord (Multiple Negation)
Non- standard what
Non standard never
Milroy and Milroy - Belfast Study
Studie
Bernstein Language Codes
Restricted vs Elaborated codes, Working vs Middle class. Asked children to describe a series of images displaying a narrative, and noted differences based on class
Restricted Code - Lack of cohesion, or cataphoric. Simple and unfinished sentences, with inaccurate syntax, and sympathetic circularity (You know?)
Elaborated Code - Anaphoric Cohesion with accurate grammatical order. Use of complex sentence structure, use of "I" to express own opinions.
Criticism, Labov and black Americans. Found Restricted code features may have a quantitative difference, but not a qualitative, addressing complex concepts in fewer words. Although it can be argued that Labov studied AAVE, which is following a set of rules.
Atherton - Restricted code draws on shared understanding, creating social bonds.