Language and Social Groups

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Giles: Communication Accommodation Theory (4 major assumptions)
1. there will be similarity and difference in the speech and behaviour and the characteristics that people exhibit are based on our experiences and the cultural backgrounds that we grew up in.
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Giles: Communication Accommodation Theory (4 major assumptions)
2. a conversation is evaluated by understanding the perception of the speech and behaviour of the other.
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Giles: Communication Accommodation Theory (4 major assumptions)
3. social status and belonging is determined by language and behaviours.
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Giles: Communication Accommodation Theory (4 major assumptions)
4. norms guide the accommodation process which varies in the degree of appropriateness.
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William Labov, Martha’s Vineyard Study, 1962
younger adults who had left the island and returned had stronger Martha’s Vineyard accents than their parents. this was to strongly identify themselves as islanders and not “summer people”.
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William Labov, New York Study, 1966
staff in the upper-class shop always pronounced the “r”, those in the lower-class shop never did, and those in the middle-class store only pronounced the “r” on the repeat, when they were speaking more carefully.
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William Labov, New York Study, 1966
this showed the relative insecurity of the middle-class speakers. Lower-class speakers were comfortable in their identity, showing and seeking covert prestige; upper-class speakers were also confident in their identity, seeking overt prestige.
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Peter Trudgill, Norwich Study, 1974
those on the boundary between middle and working class were the most likely to change their pronunciation in the different contexts, using a more standard pronunciation in the more “careful” registers.
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Peter Trudgill, Norwich Study, 1974
focus on the pronunciation of “ng” at the ends of words like “sing”, which in the norwich dialect is likely to be replaced with “n”. men tended to claim a more Norwich pronunciation (covert) and women a more standard one (overt).
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James and Lesley Milroy, Belfast Study, 1978
allocated each individual a “network strength score” based on how close-knit their network was. he denser and more closed networks led to speech forms that were further from Standard English.
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Jenny Cheshire, Reading Study, 1982
She assessed the children’s interests in a range of areas and organised the boys along an index which she devised, known as the “toughness index”. The tougher boys were those who were more likely to fight, carry weapons and be involved in petty crime
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Jenny Cheshire, Reading Study, 1982
The girls were less easy to categorise as their friendship groups were more fluid; she generally found that the tougher the child, the less standard their speech would be.
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Penelope Eckert’s Study- Detroit High school 2000
Eckert’s study was ethnographic and she ound that “new” ways of using a particular feature was patterned in relation to a combination of gender and affiliation with the two main social groups: “jocks” and “burnouts”.
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Penelope Eckert’s Study- Detroit High school 2000
burnouts were more likely to use newer, incoming pronunciations, especially the girls. The pro-school, suburban-orientated jocks maintained the linguistic norms. Burnouts and the so-called inbetweeners would more frequently use double negatives
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Lave and Wenger, Communities of Practice Study, 1991 (3 components for a successful CoP)
Domain- the CoP must have an identity defined by a shared domain of interest, e.g. radiologists, Star Trek fans, Seahawks football fans. Despite this, they mustn't be just a group of people or a club of friends; membership implies a commitment to the
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Lave and Wenger, Communities of Practice Study, 1991 (3 components for a successful CoP)
Community- members of a specific domain interact and engage in shared activities, help each other and share information with each other. this does not mean they have to communicate and engage with one another daily.
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Lave and Wenger, Communities of Practice Study, 1991 (3 components for a successful CoP)
Practice- CoP’s develop a shared repertoire including stories, helpful tools, experiences and ways of handling typical problems, to name a few.
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Card 2

Front

2. a conversation is evaluated by understanding the perception of the speech and behaviour of the other.

Back

Giles: Communication Accommodation Theory (4 major assumptions)

Card 3

Front

3. social status and belonging is determined by language and behaviours.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

4. norms guide the accommodation process which varies in the degree of appropriateness.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

younger adults who had left the island and returned had stronger Martha’s Vineyard accents than their parents. this was to strongly identify themselves as islanders and not “summer people”.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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