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Language and age - Coggle Diagram
Language and age
Penelope Eckert
Age concepts
Cheshires life events theory - Jenny Cheshire argues that 'important life events' are more likely to occur post-18 as you enter the linguistic marketplace, an age Douglas Bingham called 'emerging adulthood'. this means that chronological age could still be a factor for younger speakers. some argue that this means younger children are the key group to look at, as their language, choices, and development are most influenced by their age.
Chronological age - number of years since birth
Biological age - physical maturity
Social age - linked to life events such as getting married/having children
This means that we cannot simply say that people in a certain age range will have the same linguistic charecteristics. instead we must consider the fact tat age is a person place at a given time in relation to social order.
Teen speak
Eckert says that slang is used to establish a connection to youth culture and to set them off from the older generation to signal coolness, toughness, or attitude.
Linguistic change is more common in teens, for example coinage of new terms. She says typical features include the use of 'like' and 'okay'; rising intonation; multiple negation.
She claims that not all teens speak alike, and that differences among teens are greater than the speech differences among members of any other age group; therefore it is important to recognise that not all teens are the same when analysing speech patterns in teenagers speech. teenagers may use language specific to their peer group rather than standard features of all young adults.
Jocks and burnouts study Experts study of Belten high school (Detroit) is research demonstrating that social identity is often a more powerful linguistic driver than chronological age.
- The jocks - middle class, participated in school activities, respected authority, looked towards uni/professional careers.
- The burnouts - Working class, rebelled against school cult, hung out in the 'urban' areas of the school, looked towards manual labour.
Findings
- Linguistic divergence/covert prestige - the burnouts used many more non standard features (eg double negatives, local slang like 'cruising' for driving around) to signal their tough identity and rejection of the establishment. the burnouts used specific slang terms acting as anti language intended to be understood by their peers but exclude jocks/teachers
- Standard English as a tool - the jocks used language closer to SE, for them correct grammar was a way to perform the role of a good student and gain overt prestige
- The gender factor - burnout girls were the most frequent users of non standard pronunciations and grammar. Eckert argues that because these girls had less social power than boys, they used more 'extreme' language to assert their rebellious status.
These findings show that age is not a monolith, and instead teens use language to show which social group they belong to. the jock and burnouts in the study were the same age but their language was very different as their social goals were different.
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